Gentling: A Practical Guide to Treating PTSD in Abused Children, 2nd Edition [Paperback]

William E. Krill (Author), Marjorie McKinnon (Foreword), Marian K. Volkman (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2011 | ISBN-10: 1615991069 | ISBN-13: 978-1615991068 | Edition: 2

Breakthrough Treatment Offers New Hope for Recovery

Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition with 3 new chapters on adolescents
Gentling represents a new paradigm in the therapeutic approach to children who have experienced physical, emotional, and sexual abuse and have acquired Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result. This text redefines PTSD in child abuse survivors by identifying child-specific behavioral signs commonly seen, and offers a means to individualize treatment and measure therapeutic outcomes through understanding each suffering child's unique symptom profile. The practical and easily understood Gentling approaches and techniques can be easily learned by clinicians, parents, foster parents, teachers and all other care givers of these children to effect real and lasting healing. With this book, you will:

Learn child-specific signs of PTSD in abused children

Learn how to manage the often intense reactivity seen in stress episodes

Gain the practical, gentle, and effective treatment tools that really help these children

Use the Child Stress Profile (CSP) to guide treatment and measure outcomes

Deploy handy 'Quick Teach Sheets' that can be copied and handed to foster parents, teachers, and social workers

Clinicians Acclaim for Gentling

"In this world where children are often disenfranchised in trauma care--and all too often treated with the same techniques as adults--Krill makes a compelling case for how to adapt proven post-trauma treatment to the world of a child."
--Michele Rosenthal, HealMyPTSD.com

"Congratulations to Krill when he says that 'being gentle' cannot be over-emphasized in work with the abused."
--Andrew D. Gibson, PhD Author of Got an Angry Kid? Parenting Spike, A Seriously Difficult Child

"William Krill's book is greatly needed. PTSD is the most common aftermath of child abuse and often domestic abuse as well. There is a critical scarcity of mental-health professionals who know how to recognize child abuse, let alone treat it."
--Fr. Heyward B. Ewart, III, Ph.D., St. James the Elder Theological Seminary, author of AM I BAD? Recovering From Abusew

Cover photo by W.A. Krill/ Fighting Chance Photography

Learn more at www.Gentling.org

From the New Horizons in Therapy Series at Loving Healing Press www.LovingHealing.com

FAM001010 Family & Relationships : Abuse - Child Abuse
PSY022040 Psychology : Psychopathology - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
FAM004000 Family & Relationships : Adoption & Fostering

Product Details

• Paperback: 284 pages
• Publisher: Loving Healing Press; 2 edition (September 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1615991069
• ISBN-13: 978-1615991068
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #327,952 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bill received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Mental Health Counseling from Gannon University in 1981, and his Master of Science Degree in Pastoral Counseling from Neumann College in 1986. He is a member of the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, and is a Licensed Professional Counselor.

His career has given him experience in counseling children, adolescents, adults, couples, GBLT, and families. Bill has worked in the areas of child protection, mental retardation, addiction treatment, and youth ministry. He currently works in private practice in association with Blair Family Solutions. He specializes in the treatment of children, adolescents, and adults with stress disorders that are a result of childhood abuse, as well as couple and family issues.

Bill has several published articles and a book on youth ministry. His latest book is titled: 'Gentling: a Practical Guide to Treating PTSD in Abused Children'. He is an experienced speaker and teacher in his areas of expertise.

Bill uses magic to entertain and as therapy for children, enjoys recumbent cycling, and paints with watercolors. He lives in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, with his wife Anne, and sons Andy and Tyler.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Readers cautioned, February 4, 2012

By 

PA2357 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gentling: A Practical Guide to Treating PTSD in Abused Children (Kindle Edition)

William Krill strikes me as an individual who cares deeply about children and, more specifically, his clients. After reading his book "Gentling," few could argue his noble intentions. However, Mr. Krill presents information that parents and professionals reading his book would do well to digest with caution.

To start with, Krill does present some accurate and worthwhile information. Most of this would already be known to professionals, but in the interest of his target audience including parents, teachers, etc., there are some bits of good information to be gleaned from this work, even if such can easily be found elsewhere. That said, mounds of misinformation, or at best speculation, spatter his book. Perhaps the worst bit of misinformation is his directly and confidently describing posttraumatic stress as a "disease," a term that by definition describes reactions of an organic cause. Posttraumatic stress is of an environmental etiology, not an organic one, even if there are biological diatheses correlated to the development of PTSD or complex trauma. Numerous other examples string through Krill's book where he weaves in and out of a medical model, the implications of which he continually contradicts. He seems to build credibility by using medical terminology and citing (well, his citation system is rather unclear) biological processes, but there too he is just plain wrong much of the time.

Even more confusing is how Krill mixes various theories to justify his anecdotal observations. Eyebrows should be raised when he attempts to integrate the couples/sex therapy ideas of David Schnarch with intergenerational constructs of Murray Bowen to children who have been abused. Krill does not justify these types of theoretical leaps. He also suggests that direct trauma work and behavioral techniques do not work or are even harmful, which is a bold stance to take when a wide body of research strongly supports such trauma-focused therapies as TF-CBT, KIDNET, and EMDR.

What I found most disturbing was the "Child Stress Profile," a Frankenstein monster creation of Mr. Krill that is presented as an informal interview, but scored as a formal, normed structured interview or self-report measure. This "measure" is completely void of norms, reliability, validity data, and logic to back its use. It is obvious that this hodgepodge stab at a useful assessment measure is completely lacking any level of psychometric credibility. Additionally, the "profile" gained from the use of this "measure" would yield no more information than would be obtained from a quality clinical interview by a trained professional. Krill either has no knowledge of or chooses to ignore the numerous psychometrically sound measures available for the assessment of children and adolescents with trauma-based issues. More importantly, he denies the foundation of assessment resting within the clinical interview of a trained professional.

In the end, Krill obviously has the best intentions for the treatment of children who have experienced abuse. But do not be fooled by his catchy use of innovative terminology ("gentling," or "quick teach sheets"). In the process of reinventing the wheel, he undermines current "best practices" of the mental health field. Until Krill can deliver a better-informed argument and/or evidence to support his theory/treatment, "Gentling" should be avoided (and for professionals, this is an ethical issue) as a method to treat children with posttraumatic stress responses.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grateful for this Guide!, September 6, 2009

By 

T. Potts - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gentling: A Practical Guide to Treating PTSD in Abused Children (New Horizons in Therapy) (Paperback)

Gentling is a book that teaches an effective approach that must be spread to the professionals and families who work and live with the special children who struggle with stress disorders. As an adoptive Mother to a son who suffers from PTSD, I can attest to the value of this guide. Bill, a professional who understands our son and his difficult behaviors has configured a treatment plan through years of successful experience working with children in this field. Finally, tools we need to hand to our son's therapist, school counselor and teacher are all summed up in one place, this remarkable book!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great technique, October 9, 2009

By 

Ann E. Scheeler "OT Mom" (PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gentling: A Practical Guide to Treating PTSD in Abused Children (New Horizons in Therapy) (Paperback)

So much with children depends on the adult being fully present when listening and teaching. This book helps the adult learn this most helpful of skills while gently teaching the adult to be less selfish.