Analysis Of Perry And Szalavitz's Work

Terr, L. C. (1991). Childhood traumas: an outline and overview. Am J Psychiatry, 1, 48.

Signs of repetition include nightmares and flashbacks. The authors then discuss trauma resolution. They make the important point that children’s trauma must be discussed by direct disclosure in order for them to resolve their issues. Simple play therapy, these authors believe, is not adequate to do this.

Dr. Bruce Perry, an incredible psychiatrist, describes some of his many experiences with extremely traumatized children in his novel, “The Boy who was Raised as a Dog and Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist’s Notebook”. Throughout this book, Dr. Perry presents just a slight insight into what children all over the world experience: violence, neglect, abuse, starvation. Due to the effects of these harsh realities, many children are viewed as strange or different, but in reality, they are some of the bravest children I’ve ever heard of. Though all of these stories are incredibly remarkable, one of the children that stood out to me the

James is a thirteen-year old Caucasian child who is being physically and verbally abused in his home by his two parents. James suffers from multiple disorders that have not been diagnosed by a doctor. He has been removed from his home that he shares with his two younger sisters. James presently is in his Uncle Patrick’s kinship foster care where he is living. James’s case seems that he is suffering from three of the 12 core concepts. Working with children who suffer with more stress related trauma is a more challenging case for the social workers. Sometimes these cases affect the social worker, and they experience vicarious trauma. A social worker works closely with their patients and form a significant relationship

The world that we live in is perilous and full of danger. During those times of danger, traumatic events can occur. People from all walks of life have had trouble dealing with this kind of trauma and can be either scarred or changed by it. This is especially true for children. We tend to overlook children and try to focus on adults when it comes to traumatic events. However, studies have shown that even children are affected by these problems and need assistance in getting over them. Mental health therapists and psychologists have been doing research and developing techniques on this age group that is adolescence. This essay will exhibit several professionals that are studying this matter and developing which technique is best for the children in regards to their treatment.

In the case study by Ghosh-Ippen, Lieberman, and NCTSN Core Curriculum on Childhood Trauma Task Force (2012), Amarika is an 18-month-old girl who witnessed the shooting of her mother Makisha at a neighborhood park. Her mother survived the shooting, but was in the hospital for some time after to recover. Her grandmother, Marlene Lawrence, cared for Amarika. Mrs. Lawrence reported that Amarika was refusing to eat and having difficulty sleeping. This is when the social worker, Carla, was contacted to provide trauma intervention for Amarika.

Through client cases, Dr. Perry explains the scientific understanding of brain development and the importance of nurturing young children. Perry starts off with the case of 7 year old Tina, who had suffered repeated sexual abuse, and now believed that she should act sexually with all men to win their approval. Her early experiences also caused her terrible stress, and affected her whole body, including her heart rate, her attention, her sleep, her fine motor control, and in her language development. Perry finds that he has only partial success in treating such profound damage caused by abuse. Other cases include a three year old girl who witnessed the murder of her mother and was alone with her mother's body for an extended period of time,

Community and relationships are crucial components in the healing process. Perry learns this in the third chapter of Perry & Szalavitz (2006) when Perry is faced with the challenge of treating children straight out of the Davidian cult. Beliefs are one of the most difficult things to change and these children lived in a different reality all their lives than the rest of the world. In light of this fact, Perry was smart enough not to force the children into therapy right away but instead let them slowly make attachments of their own to different staff members and get acclimated. Perry points out that as humans are biologically wired to create connections with others since we’re strongest in groups but also be watchful of social cues that could

“American Psychiatric Association defines trauma as an event that represents a threat to life or personal integrity. Trauma can also be experienced when children are faced with a caregiver who acts erratically, emotional and /or physical neglect, and exploitation” (Maltby, L., & Hall, T. 2012. p. 304). Trauma comes in many different forms including: war, rape, kidnapping, abuse, sudden injury, and

about the traumas some children face, stories of victims, and doctors who have work with

Dr. Bruce Perry, MD, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Dr. Perry is also the senior fellow of The Child Trauma Academy, a not for profit organization based out of Houston, Texas. With the assistance of Co- Author Maia Szalavitz, an award-winning journalist with a specialization in Neuroscience. They worked together to co write “The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog”, an up to date source of information for individuals interested in childhood trauma. I found the book full of valuable knowledge and stories regarding childhood trauma and experiences, that I feel would be a great resource for anyone in the Human Service Work, Social Work or Teaching profession.

Childhood is a time for playdates and learning, a time for big dreams and imaginary adventures. Safety and security should not be questions that linger in uncertainty. However, this is not the case for many children across the globe. Thousands of children from all walks of life each day are faced with unspeakable horror and must deal with the resulting trauma from then on. However, in children, managing this trauma takes a different toll on the mind and heart than it does in adults. While the type of trauma may vary in pervasiveness across countries, trauma occurring in childhood has the ability to cause long term damage to the growing neurological functioning in the brain and negatively influence children’s spiritual development, wounding

Trauma is very complex and varied in its nature. Traumatic events include child abuse, neglect and maltreatment. Wamser‐Nanney & Vandenberg (2013) found that one of the more harmful types of trauma is the abuse is committed intentionally. This directly impacts the victim 's safety and sense of trust. The devastating effects of this type of trauma is the way in which it impacts not only the survivors, but also future generations, and the ability they have to form attachments (Connolly, 2011).

Childhood trauma is one of the most heartbreaking situations to ever fathom happening. Childhood trauma includes neglect, maltreatment, physical and emotional abuse, and many other forms of mistreatment amongst children. Childhood trauma occurs between the ages of 0 and 6 years of age. When referencing to childhood trauma, one must take thought into who commits the abuse, who is affected by the abuse, and what long term effects can the abuse have on the victims. One must also take into consideration the sex differences when referring to childhood trauma. Numerous of studies have been conducted and many findings have been made. Prior to conducting this research paper, I only considered childhood trauma to be what it was and never considered the long term effects. Because of my assumption, I never even considered the other categories of the trauma.

Judith Lewis Herman’s Trauma and Recovery provides not only greater understanding of how a traumatic event may defined but also the ways in which the effects of the experience may have a significantly repressing effect on the present and future self. Traumatic events are impressing on the self because they overwhelm the conventional emotional and physical perceptions that humanity has adjusted and modified their selves to. As traumatic events generally involve threats to the emotional and physical self, they differ from common misfortunes as they confront the victim with the feeling of extreme terror and helplessness that in result causes the individual to perceive the experience as one that was out of their control. As Herman reiterates, according to the Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, “The common denominator of psychological trauma is a feeling of “intense fear, helplessness, loss of control, and threat of annihilation” (Herman 104). However, it is the response to the traumatic event in the emotional or conscious self that may differ from one another as there are three differing reactions to the terror factor of trauma: hyper-arousal, intrusion, and disconnection. Throughout this essay the work of Judith Lewis Herman’s Trauma and Recovery as well as Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower will be utilized to illustrated the compromising effects a traumatic experience such as childhood sexual abuse may have on the development of a young teen and the ways in