Attuned Treatment of Developmental Trauma

This  book takes a painstaking look at developmental trauma as it manifests  in group, individual, and combined psychotherapies, tracking the growth  of non-abused individuals who have courageously addressed overwhelming  childhood experiences to make sense of the chaos in their lives.

The  cumulative impact of repetitive stress, fear, and shame in childhood  wreaks havoc on the developing brain, resulting in a life-long  vulnerability to anxiety, despair, and dissociative moments that are  often described as developmental trauma. Adverse childhood experiences  are often overlooked by therapists. This book focuses specifically on  the profound suffering of high-functioning private-practice patients who  manifest developmental trauma from chronic shock, shame, and neglect.  Adams offers a synthesis of diverse theoretical worlds in her study of  adaptations to cumulative trauma, namely, relational psychoanalysis, the  British school of object relations, trauma theory, neuroscience and  interpersonal neurobiology, developmental psychopathology, and  attachment theory.

Using richly detailed clinical  material, this book provides invaluably clear examples to illustrate the  effects of disorganized states in infancy, making it essential reading  for psychoanalysts, psychotherapists and clinical psychologists working  with traumatized patients.