Helping Abused and Traumatized Children: Integrating Directive and Nondirective Approaches [Hardcover]

Eliana Gil PhD (Author), John Briere Phd (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1593853343 | ISBN-13: 978-1593853341 | Publication Date: August 28, 2006 | Edition: 1

Presenting an integrative model for treating traumatized children, this book combines play, art, and other expressive therapies with ideas and strategies drawn from cognitive-behavioral and family therapy. Eliana Gil demonstrates how to tailor treatment to the needs of each child by using both directive and nondirective approaches. Throughout, practical clinical examples illustrate ways to target trauma-related symptomatology while also helping children process painful feelings and memories that are difficult to verbalize. The book concludes with four in-depth cases that bring to life the unique situation of each child and family, the decision making process of the therapist, and the applications of developmentally informed, creative, and flexible interventions.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In this book, Eliana Gil skillfully shows how a well-selected repertoire of methods can be flexibly combined and adapted to facilitate the successful treatment of traumatized children. Through excellent, detailed case examples, she demonstrates ways to individualize treatment by attending carefully to the personal meanings and experiences of each child. The cases will be of benefit and interest to professionals experienced in working with children, as well as to students in all of the mental health disciplines. This is an excellent work."--Kathleen Nader, DSW, Austin, Texas

 

"What a refreshing book! In the age of managed care, Gil provides a clear and compelling argument for the importance of experience, compassion, and insight. Clinicians know that each child is unique, and a flexible, multidimensional approach to healing is what we need to be able to provide. Gil discusses how she has drawn from various schools of thought and therapeutic models to build a clinical workshop with many tools, and how she has learned to use the right tool at the right time to help traumatized children. I highly recommend this book to anyone working with children."--Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD, ChildTrauma Academy, Houston, Texas

 

"Gil artfully combines her own experiences as a play therapist with contemporary research findings to provide this practical, interesting guide. Beautifully told accounts of play therapy with young trauma survivors illustrate this thoughtful treatment approach, which integrates cognitive-behavioral, expressive, and family therapies. For practitioners as well as students, this book provides a helpful framework for individualizing treatment to fit the unique needs of each child."--Janine Shelby, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles

"Gil brings more than 30 years of her rich and always evolving clinical wisdom, practice, and experience to this book. She offers us a truly timely and welcome overview of her insights on how to best help abused and traumatized children...Her approach is refreshingly integrative--a seamless blend of cognitive-behavioral therapies with interventions drawn from family, play, and psychodynamic modalities. The overarching emphasis is on the child's uniqueness, inner resources, and situational circumstances. Not only does she provide a sound theoretical context for each of the techniques she describes, but she also provides practical, detailed guidelines and extensive case illustrations as well. A must read for all child therapists!"--Leo Goldberger, PhD, Department of Psychology (Emeritus), New York University

About the Author

Eliana Gil, PhD, is Director of Clinical Services for Childhelp, Inc., and works at the Childhelp Children’s Center in Fairfax, Virginia. Dr. Gil is a well-known lecturer, author, and clinician who has worked in child abuse prevention and treatment for over three decades. A registered play therapy supervisor, registered art therapist, and a licensed marriage, family, and child counselor, she has served on the Board of Directors of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children and the National Resource Center on Child Sexual Abuse, and is a former President of the Association for Play Therapy. She is the author of acclaimed books and video programs on child abuse, play therapy, and related topics. Bilingual and bicultural, Dr. Gil is originally from Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 254 pages
• Publisher: The Guilford Press; 1 edition (August 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593853343
• ISBN-13: 978-1593853341
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #376,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, amazing writer!, October 18, 2007

By 

Sarah B. Connell - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Helping Abused and Traumatized Children: Integrating Directive and Nondirective Approaches (Hardcover)

Eliana Gil is amazing, if you have ever talked with her in person you know what I mean. She is definately one of the foremost experts on treating abused and traumatized children, and has many creative ideas on techniques to use in child and family therapy, etc. (See her other books) In this book, she reviews how to integrate non-directive (i,e, Child centered) approaches with more directive approaches, which is very helpful if you are trying to work with kids in a tight time frame, traveling from school to school, or are just trying to get your head around a theoretical orientation for practice with children and families. I highly reccomend this and her other publications, as well as going to a presentation at one of her conferences.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary book by a Rare Clinician, May 2, 2008

By 

David A. Crenshaw (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Helping Abused and Traumatized Children: Integrating Directive and Nondirective Approaches (Hardcover)

Helping Abused and Traumatized Children: Integrating Directive and Nondirective Approaches I couldn't agree more with the review by Sarah Connell. Eliana Gil is a gift to the field and this book represents the distilled wisdom of an unusually talented and compassionate person who has devoted her entire career to helping abused and traumatized children. Her work has influenced, inspired, and informed my work and I will always be indebted to her. She doesn't speak in the typical mystifying jargon that dominates writing in our field but in plain, clear language and directly from the heart. This is a book that will be read and re-read by countless practitioners and students in the field because it simply doesn't get any better than this insightful and uncommonly helpful book. It is a must read for all who work with the more severely abused and traumatized children who suffer the impact of the worst of the ills of our society. Eliana offers that rare blend of insight and compassion that I regard as uncommon clinical wisdom.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best play child psychotherapy books ever, July 1, 2008

By 

E. Green (Washington DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Helping Abused and Traumatized Children: Integrating Directive and Nondirective Approaches (Hardcover)

I concur with David Crenshaw! This book is one of the BEST books I have ever read in the child psychotherapy field. I make it required reading for my play therapy courses at JHU, where I teach.And the author is truly a gift to our field and to humanity. If you ever get the chance to meet her, you will see her humility and beauty coming shining through.