Holding the Line: Limits in Child Psychotherapy

Zilberstein, Karen; Abel, Sarah Virginia

doi:10.1080/15289168.2012.648884

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Psychodynamic therapists who work with children who have lacked adequate experiences of attunement, regulation and containment in their early lives recognize that therapy must initially focus less on insight and interpretation and more on developmental help. This includes an emphasis on the therapeutic relationship, the establishment of limits and boundaries, and the naming of feelings and self states (Hopkins, 2000;Levy, 2011;Sugarman, 2003;Zilberstein & Abel, 2012). However, children who show multiple levels of dysregulation and learning difficulties because of a combination of relational trauma and cognitive difficulties may still feel overwhelmed and apprehensive in nondirective therapies.…”

Section: Treatments For Trauma and Complex Trauma In Childrenmentioning

confidence: 97%

Neurocognitive considerations in the treatment of attachment and complex trauma in children

Zilberstein

2013

Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry

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Accumulating evidence suggests that children suffering deprivation and maltreatment at critical times in their development often pay a cognitive toll. While children vary to the extent that neurocognitive domains are affected, those factors influence how children process, manage and understand traumatic and attachment experiences as well as how they respond to treatment. Current research on trauma and attachment favor some aspects of cognition over others. The literature discusses attention, memory, cognitive biases, internal working models, beliefs and attributions as ways that impact an individual's understanding of experience. Other categories such as working memory, processing speed, verbal, auditory or perceptual processing, metacognitive skills, and cognitive rigidity or flexibility rarely surface. This paper examines what is and is not known about the interface of cognition with attachment and complex trauma and how that knowledge can inform treatment. It explores existing research and offers a case vignette as an example of how that knowledge can be integrated into treatment strategies.

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Section: Treatments For Trauma and Complex Trauma In Childrenmentioning

confidence: 97%