Inspiring a change in behavior through relationships that change the brain. | Inspiring a change in behavior through relationships that change the brain. |
Often times we get calls from Social Workers who are anxious to find a therapist who knows how to help children work through their relationship attachment issues. This is a common request for children in the foster care system as well as for children who have recently been adopted out of the foster care system. Children who are removed from their home have suffered severe trauma and disruption in their attachment mechanism. Many times we have children referred to us after they have been in traditional individual therapy for years with either no change in behavior, or a steady decline in their behavior. Children with attachment issues have a difficult time learning to trust adult caregivers and in an effort to make themselves feel safe, they tend to become more and more aggressive in pushing away the caregiver. We have been quite successful in helping children referred to us with this type of profile. The child who is verbally and or physically aggressive in the home, at school, with adults and peers quite frequently responds rather quickly to our model of treatment. We seek first to listen to the child and hear what their issues and concerns are rather than focusing our efforts on changing their behaviors. As a result, we are able to learn about the underlying feelings and fears that drive the out of control, aggressive behaviors. Once the child feels heard and understood, they are open to learning how to communicate their feelings and fears to their caregiver in a more effective manner. The caregiver, likewise, is a part of treatment and they learn how to make themselves someone the child feels safe enough seeking in times of distress. At the Center, we view the caregiver as a central part of treatment, because the human brain changes in relation to another and not in isolation |
