Abstract
Mental health treatments for emotionally traumatized children incorporate family and caregiver-child therapy sessions to promote child recovery and minimize developmental disruption. Such sessions require that caregivers regulate their emotions to remain productively engaged in the therapeutic process. However, caregivers with histories of unresolved interpersonal trauma have difficulty with emotional regulation. Interpersonal trauma also negatively affects the ability to reflect on one’s own and others’ feelings and intentions. This limitation interferes with caregiver engagement in psychotherapy relationships aimed at supporting child trauma work. FamilyLive is an innovative caregiver-focused family therapy model that uses a one-way mirror, a specially trained reflecting team, structured routines and individualized verbalizations to address this complex clinical phenomenon. Guided by the literature on attachment and trauma, FamilyLive has yielded anecdotal successes and positive pilot results. FamilyLive is a viable approach to engaging caregivers with histories of interpersonal trauma in trauma-focused child and family therapy relationships.
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Supported by The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) through the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN).
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Gardner, S., Loya, T. & Hyman, C. FamilyLive: Parental Skill Building for Caregivers with Interpersonal Trauma Exposures. Clin Soc Work J 42, 81–89 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-012-0428-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-012-0428-8