Attachment, Trauma and Resilience : Therapeutic Caring for Children

Kate Cairns is a social worker by profession who has also, over a 25-year period and along with her husband and birth children, fostered 12 other children who remain part of their family group. In this compelling book she draws on the wealth of her personal and professional experience to offer a vivid glimpse into family life with children who have experienced attachment difficulties, loss, abuse and trauma, and shows in a range of everyday situations how the family responded to the powerful feelings and difficult behaviours the children displayed. Drawing on knowledge and ideas that helped her make sense of this experience, the author includes suggestions for carers and professionals on what may be observed in children with unmet attachment needs and post-traumatic stress disorders, and what can be done to promote recovery and develop resilience.