Working with a child who has experienced chronic, complex trauma and hasn’t yet developed the skills or allowed herself to risk developing a safe, reciprocal, healthy connection is one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences I’ve ever had as a clinician.
I can now look back at Maria, my first long term client in residential care and understand that her constant rejection of my support, impressively skilled ability at pressing buttons I didn’t know I had and motivation to get her needs met in any way she could find (often mislabeled as manipulation), was a function of survival and the fear of connection.
These kids are tough, but I happen to love to work with them. Children with attachment disorders often do not respond to typical therapeutic interventions and require an open minded, reflective approach to their care.
[For more of this story, written by Lexi Shuman, go to http://pro.psychcentral.com/fi...achment/0016638.html]
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