Dissociation in Traumatized Children and Adolescents edited By Sandra Wieland

Goodreads Summary: Over the last decade, the literature on therapy addressing trauma in children has expanded considerably, as has the literature on dissociation. Unfortunately, very little of this literature has addressed the issue of dissociation in children. At the same time, therapists working with children and adolescents have become increasingly aware of the occurrence of trauma and dissociation in their clients.

Dissociation in Traumatized Children and Adolescents is a groundbreaking text for the study of dissociation in young people. In eight unique and compelling case studies, the authors lay out detailed narratives that illustrate both the therapy’s progression as well as the therapist’s reactions and thought process during case development. These case studies present many aspects of working with traumatized children who dissociate—trauma processing, attachment work, work with the family, interactions with the community—and give frank analysis of the difficulties clinicians encounter in various therapeutic situations and how and why they arrived at particular therapeutic decisions. While the book includes intensive analysis of each author’s theoretical framework as well as that of dissociation in general, it also shows clinicians, in the most practical terms, how to translate the theories of dissociation into action. No clinician interested in trauma and dissociation in children will want to be without this text.

My views: This was an absolutely amazing book! First textbook I finished in flat 5 days along with all the work I have been doing. I was hooked on to it like a novel. Very interesting, informative and educational. A must read for all psychologists, trauma counselors and mental health practitioners out there. It gives a view into the mind state of a dissociated child/adolescent and the different approaches by different professionals to treat them and the difficulties that come up in the treatment. The various case studies give a wide variety of clinical material to help understand the various theories and applications of therapy in each context. I am going for a re-read soon and will keep coming back to this book for clinical help.