Trauma Systems Therapy for Children and Teens, Second Edition

A marvelous, practical, integrative guide for all those who work to help traumatized kids. Based on a thorough understanding of the underlying biological, social, and attachment issues, this book confronts the realities of children's and families' lives and the awesome obstacles that providers face. TST offers a comprehensive way to deliver effective services and reorganize often-broken systems of care. This approach not only will facilitate healing, but also will help prevent practitioner burnout and the wasteful use of resources. I love the energy behind this work! --Bessel A. van der Kolk, MD, Medical Director, The Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute; Professor of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine The second edition of this important book reflects the essence of what it takes to provide excellent trauma treatment. Everything in this volume makes complete sense, especially with regard to understanding and assessing the traumatized child's survival-in-the-moment states. Recommendations for planning treatment and integrating services are clear and concise. Readers will find this a valuable resource for developing comprehensive services for children and families exposed to traumatic life events. --Anthony P. Mannarino, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Allegheny General Hospital and Drexel University College of Medicine Building on the strengths of their first edition, the authors have incorporated innovations from successful adopters of TST. This treatment model tackles multiple real-world challenges to thoroughly assess traumatized children and their families and social environments. Interventions targeting both the impact of trauma and the barriers to care in the environment take into consideration key principles of neurobiology, child development, and family systems, as well as the evidence base for treating child traumatic stress. The book includes a full set of therapeutic activities and reproducible assessment tools and worksheets. The new chapter on organizational planning and implementation facilitates adoption of this unique model of integrated care. --Lisa Amaya-Jackson, MD, MPH, UCLA-Duke National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, Duke University School of Medicine This second edition represents the growth of TST and its increased focus on the TST treatment team working within a much larger, multifaceted organizational system....The 10 years between the first and second edition of this book led to the creation of a more robust and encompassing treatment plan. This excellent book details the growth of TST and its expansion to include more than the population of traumatized children. Much was learned over those 10 years, and that learning is carefully laid out in a comprehensive, organized, and, to use the author's expression, 'real world' manner. It is clear that Saxe, Ellis, and Brown have 'walked the walk' and have created an excellent, important, well thought out, and detailed text which can have a profound impact on both providers and those in need of services. The book can be a valuable tool for any student or trainee in social work, psychology, psychiatry, pediatrics, or law who wishes for a greater understanding of the fundamentals of trauma. --Child and Family Behavior Therapy An excellent resource for therapists who work with the children and families served by public mental health and child welfare systems. This is a practical treatment manual that incorporates all of the major techniques or practice elements used in proven trauma treatments....Saxe and colleagues have organized their book to be easily accessible for busy clinicians and other mental health workers who may find it difficult to tackle denser textbooks....I really like this book. I recommend it highly for clinicians working in children's mental health and for students in this field. In fact, I have been trying to find a way to buy copies for all of our state's contracted provider agencies, because I think they all could improve their practice by using at least some aspects of this approach. --PsycCRITIQUES