Nurturing Adoptions: Creating Resilience after Neglect and Trauma

Adopted children who have suffered trauma and neglect have structural brain change, as well as specific developmental and emotional needs. They need particular care to build attachment and overcome trauma.

This book provides professionals with the knowledge and advice they need to help adoptive families build positive relationships and help children heal. It explains how neglect, trauma and prenatal exposure to drugs or alcohol affect brain and emotional development, and explains how to recognise these effects and attachment issues in children. It also provides ways to help children settle into new families and home and school approaches that encourage children to flourish. The book also includes practical resources such as checklists, questionnaires, assessments and tools for professionals including social workers, child welfare workers and mental health workers.

This book will be an invaluable resource for professionals working with adoptive families and will support them in nurturing positive family relationships and resilient, happy children. It is ideal as a child welfare text or reference book and will also be of interest to parents.

Table of Contents

Introduction.

Part 1. The Issues of Neglect and Trauma in Today's Adoption.

• 1. The Changing Nature of Adoption.
• 2. Trauma, Stress, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – Interrelationships.
• 3. Neglect.
• 4. Traumatic Stress – The Symptom Clusters.
• 5. Early Relational Trauma, Traumatic Loss, and Effects on Development.
• 6. Trauma and Neglect – Double Insults.
• 7. Attachment and Trauma/Neglect.

Part 2. Putting the Pieces Together – Restoration after Traumatic Stress and Neglect.

• 8. Common Ground: What Parents, Caseworkers, Teachers, and Therapists Can Do to Help.
• 9. The Role of the Child Welfare/Social Worker.
• 10. The Role of the Mental Health Worker.
• 11. Structuring Careers and Practices.
• 12. Creating Resilience in Children and Their Families.

Appendices.

• Glossary.
• Useful Tools and Exercises.
• References.
• Resources and Recommended Reading.
• Index.

"In 'Nurturing Adoptions', Deborah Gray delivers an exceptional depiction of the emotional, developmental and neurological impacts of early childhood trauma and neglect. Additionally, she highlights critical areas of assessment that social workers must consider when home studying families prior to placing children who have experienced abuse or neglect. In a field laden with a variety of controversial and coercive methods of working with children demonstrating symptoms of reactive attachment disorder, it is refreshing to see that Deborah not only discourages the early and over diagnosis of RAD, but provides lots of strategies for assessing and working with children and families that are evidence based and sensitive to the development needs of children. My hope is that this book will be read by all social workers and therapists working with foster and adoptive families. We will be making it required reading for our social work staff. Thank you, Deborah, for such a valuable contribution to this field."
- Karen Alvord, L.C.S.W., Executive Director of Lilliput Children's Services, Sacramento, California

"The "required reading in adoption" list just got longer, and shorter. 'Nurturing Adoptions' is several long-awaited books in one: a deft overview of neglect and trauma's effects of children and families, a collection of practical pearls for adoptive parents, a best practices for child welfare professionals, and a lovely illustration for child therapists of Deborah Gray's state-of-the-art therapeutic approach. While I do enjoy traipsing around the Pacific Northwest to Deborah's fantastic trainings, it's so nice to finally have this material collected in book form, especially one so infused with hope, wry wit, empathy for all involved, and hard-earned practical wisdom. Her previous book, 'Attaching in Adoption', which has been our must-read attachment book for parents and professionals, now has a wonderful new sibling'"
- Julian Davies, M.D., Co-Director of The Center for Adoption Medicine, University of Washington

"At last there is a "how to" book for professionals working with children with the scars of abuse and neglect. Deborah Gray lays out the foundations of research in this field, explaining how and why children respond to stresses of their early lives. From these foundations she helps professionals and families to create a milieu that will build self-esteem, address trauma and grief, and work towards resiliency. Therapists with little experience in this field may not recognize the many issues that are impacting the child's behavior. Often I find that these mental health professionals are at a loss, incompletely understanding the impact of a child's early trauma on their emotional development. Here, as well, is a toolbox to help both adoption professionals who are new to adoption and those with years of experience. This book will be quoted over and over again to my patients, therapists in my community, and even in my home. I plan to have two copies - one to share with families at work, the other to refer to as a parent as I nurture my own children towards coping with their pasts."
- Deborah Borchers, M.D., Pediatrician specializing in adoption and foster care medicine, Adoptive Mom, Cincinnati, Ohio