Customer Reviews

Helping Abused and Traumatized Children: Integrating Directive and Nondirective Approaches

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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.

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.

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.

Eliana Gil, author of this book, is one of the most experienced and gifted authors and therapists when it comes to understanding and treating trauma. She has the gift of insight and deep connection with what trauma survivors experience. Some books and authors identify the problems, but Eliana Gil helps define and implement solutions for childrens suffering from abuse and trauma.
Any book by Dr. Gil will be like a seminar in therapy that works!! She is an excellent therapist and author. So glad there are therapists in the field like her. If you haven't read her other book OUTGROWING THE PAIN, a short book on understanding and identifying feelings, you would be so blessed to read it. I share it with clients who are not able to understand their own pain and steps toward healing. Any book by Dr. Gil is a wonderful addition to any therapy and personal library!!

More Creative Interventions for Troubled Children and Youth
Creative Family Therapy Techniques: Play, Art, and Expressive Activities to Engage Children in Family Sessions (Sociology Family Relationships)

I have read and re-read this book several times. I can not say enough about it! It is so helpful to read how such a well-respected clinician integrates directive and non-directive techniques. For me, combining different approaches has always felt most comfortable to me, but many books focus on one approach. Reading ways to combine different approaches has been so helpful for me. Eliana has a true gift for working with children and explaining her way of working to other professionals in the field.

Excellent book. I would strongly suggest that anyone who works with Trauma survivors should add this to their library.