Connecting With Kids Through Stories: Using Narratives To Facilitate Attachment In Adopted Children

Having developed their techniques during years of therapeutic work with adopted children and their families, Lacher, Nichols, and May (all with the Family Attachment and Counseling Center of Minnesota) present "Family Attachment Narrative Therapy," which uses stories to help parents communicate and connect with their troubled children. Written as a "how to" guide for parents, the concepts are illustrated through a story of fictional parents and their adopted child. Coverage includes the formation of the child's inner working model; discovering the child's unique model and piecing together the meaning of behavior; and telling the narratives that bond, heal, and teach. Additional chapters focus on four specific categories of parent narrative--claiming, trauma, developmental, and successful child. Annotation c2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Denise B. Lacher is a licensed psychologist and Director of Attachment Programs at the Family Attachment and Counseling Center of Minnesota. Denise joined the Center in 1994 after obtaining her Masters degree in psychology and has presented nationally on the subject of attachment. She has extensive training in attachment theory and the treatment of attachment disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder. Todd Nichols is Executive Director of the Family Attachment and Counseling Center. He is the co-developer of the Child Behavior Rating Scale, a proprietary instrument to measure changes in behaviour. Todd has been President of the Association for Treatment and Training in the Attachment of Children since 2001. Joanne C. May is a licensed psychologist and marriage and family therapist. She founded the Family Attachment and Counseling Center of Minnesota after completing her doctorate in clinical psychology in 1989. Joanne is codeveloper of the Child Behavior Rating Scale and has presented extensively on the diagnosis and treatment of children with attachment difficulties.