Children suffering from insecure attachment due to severe abuse and/or neglect are often characterized by internal working models which, although perhaps adaptive within the original family situation, are inappropriate and maladaptive in other relationships and situations. Such children have a higher probability than the general population of becoming abusing or neglecting parents. Besides the usual goals of psychotherapy, an overall goal is to stop the cycle of abuse in which abused children may grow up to be abusing parents. Therapy with these children is complicated by their distrust in adults as well as difficulties in symbolization due to trauma during the preverbal stage. Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) provides avenues for circumventing these difficulties, as well as providing additional tools for reaching the inner world of the client. This article gives a brief background of the connection between insecure attachment and intergenerational transmission of abuse and neglect as well as a brief overview of the principles of AAT in a play therapy setting. A rationale for the use of AAT as a unique therapy technique for children having suffered from abuse and neglect is followed by a number of clinical examples illustrating AAT.
Chronic maltreatment in childhood has been found to have serious deleterious effects on the child’s present and future medical and psychological health, self-regulation, and ability to function in interpersonal relationships, resulting in developmental trauma (DT). In recent years, researchers in the field of neurobiology have discovered pervasive neurological implications of maltreatment, negatively affecting the functioning of the neurological system, bringing further understanding of the emotional and behavioral issues in those suffering from DT. Integration of knowledge of the psychological effects of chronic maltreatment with knowledge of the interpersonal neurobiology of trauma has proved useful for psychotherapists in their treatment of survivors of maltreatment. However, the symptoms of DT form barriers to some of the very principles of psychotherapy that are meant to treat sufferers of DT. This article presents the background for trauma- and neurobiology-informed psychotherapy, focusing on some symptoms of DT that might form barriers to psychotherapy, specifically distrust in others (leading to difficulty in establishing the therapeutic alliance), emotional numbness and loss of touch with self (leading to lack emotional expression, implicit memories without the context of explicit memories, lack of recognition of the trauma and its implications), and shame and the subsequent presentation of false self to others (preventing the ability to work through the trauma with the therapist). Experts in the field of DT state that therapy must take place in the context of relationships. Animal-assisted psychotherapy, conducted in a highly relational environment, is discussed as an approach which might lower these barriers.
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