Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #196969 in Books
• Published on: 2000-06-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 264 pages

Synopsis
Shows how to work successfully with emotional and behavioral problems rooted in deficient early attachments. This book addresses the emotional difficulties of many of the foster and adopted children living in our country.

From the Publisher
Facilitating Developmental Attachment
This book shows how to work successfully with emotional and behavioral problems rooted in deficient early attachments. In particular, it address the emotional difficulties of many of the foster and adopted children living in our country who are unable to form secure attachments. Dr. Daniel Hughes maps out a treatment plan designed to help the child begin to experience and accept, from both the therapist and the parents, affective attunement that he or she should have received in the first few years of life.

Customer Reviews

Reads like Dan talks
Dan is a phenomenal counselor, speaker, and, now, author. His approach is straight forward and compassionate. For any family (mine's adopted) facing attachment issues, Dan's insight is on the mark and his approaches are very helpful. The book builds on numerous theoretical approaches to attachment and provides clinical and therapeutic techniques that really work in helping children build attachment. It is my bible and I have read it twice. My copy has so many underlines highlights and notes from my children that I don't think I could read it a third time for all my scribbling! Most importantly, the suggestions are POSSIBLE. The approaches Dan suggests can be done by any parent or caregiver truly interested in helping their troubled child. It doesn't take two people. Be prepared, it does take the patience of Job. Of course, we all know that is part of the game with troubled children.

Interesting and helpful
I would highly recommend this book to other foster parents. It thoroughly describes therapeutic techniques, both for use in the therapist's office and in the home, and explains why and how they work. It emphasizes the hard work of treating and parenting the child with attachment problems and offers hope.

I also want to offer a couple of criticisms: 1) There is too much jargon in the introductory chapters explaining theory; it may discourage some readers, but the book does get easier to understand. 2) The author deals only with success stories. I'm sure his methods have not succeeded with all his clients, and even a short description of "failures" would have provided balance. It would have been helpful if he'd listed his criteria for accepting clients-- what are the behavioral, personality, and/or family characteristics that suggest someone is likely to benefit, and on what basis does he refer clients elsewhere? 3) I wish he'd included something about the politics of getting therapeutic help for foster and adoptive kids. Sounds like many of his clients are longterm, and treatment can't be cheap; I'm wondering how families afford his services. A plug for the importance of adoption subsidies and true treatment foster care would have been a bonus.

Colleen M. McDonald