Childhood Maltreatment

In the series: Advances in Psychotherapy – Evidence-Based Practice , Vol., 4

The serious consequences of child abuse or maltreatment are among the most challenging things therapists encounter. In recent years there has been a surge of interest, and of both basic and clinical research, concerning early traumatization. This volume in the series Advances in Psychotherapy integrates results from the latest research showing the importance of early traumatization into a compact and practical guide for practitioners. Advances in biological knowledge have highlighted the potential chronicity of effects of childhood maltreatment, demonstrating particular life challenges in managing emotions, forming and maintaining healthy relationships, healthy coping, and holding a positive outlook of oneself.

Despite the resiliency of many maltreated children, adolescent and young adult well-being is often compromised. This text first overviews our current knowledge of the effects of childhood maltreatment on psychiatric and psychological health, then provides diagnostic guidance, and subsequently goes on to profile promising and effective evidence-based interventions. Consistent with the discussions of treatment, prevention programming that is multi-targeted at issues for maltreated individuals is highlighted. This text helps the practitioner or student to know what to look for, what questions need to be asked, how to handle the sensitive ethical implications, and what are promising avenues for effective coping.

The Authors

Christine Wekerle, PhD, is Associate Professor of Education, Psychology, and Psychiatry at the University of Western Ontario (UWO). She is also a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Violence Against Women and Children at UWO. Dr. Wekerle has conducted research over the past decade in the areas of child welfare, childhood maltreatment, the overlap between substance abuse and relationship violence, and violence prevention. She recently received a mid-career award to further research on adolescent healthy functioning and violence prevention among child protective services clients (Ontario Women’s Health Council/CIHR Institute of Gender and Health).

Alec L. Miller, PsyD, is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and is currently Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychology; Director of Adolescent Depression and Suicide Program; Director of Clinical Services at PS 8 School-Based Mental Health Program at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY. Dr. Miller has spent the last decade heading a clinical-research team and training therapists internationally in the adaptation of dialectical behavior therapy for suicidal, selfinjurious, and maltreated adolescents.

David A. Wolfe, PhD, is the first recipient of the RBC Investments Chair in Developmental Psychopathology and Children’s Mental Health at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and past President of Division 37 (Child, Youth, and Family Services). Dr. Wolfe has broad research and clinical interests in abnormal child and adolescent psychology, with a special focus on child abuse, domestic violence, and developmental psychopathology. He has authored numerous articles on these topics, especially in relation to the impact of early childhood trauma on later development in childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. He recently received the Outstanding Career Award from the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, and the John Dewan Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Psychology from the Ontario Mental Health Foundation.

Carrie B. Spindel, PsyD, received her BSc from Cornell Universty and her doctorate in clinical psychology from Ferkauf School of Psychology, Yeshiva University. Dr. Spindel has expertise in the cognitive and behavioral treatment of maltreated children and adolescents. In 2004, she was granted the Distinguished Student Practice Award for Division 12 of the American Psychological Association. She is currently a post doctoral fellow at the Cognitive and Behavioral Consultants of Westchester in White Plains, NY.

From the Reviews

"This book provides outstanding suggestions and specific guidelines for mental health practitioners, from students to experienced therapists, in integrating empirically-based approaches into their clinical practice. The book clearly advances the field of intervention and treatment for children who have experienced abuse and neglect."
Barbara L. Bonner, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics, Child Study Center, Oklahoma City, OK

"This brief and concise book is replete with information and astute observations about the nature, context and effects of child maltreatment, which is wisely considered along dimensional, as well as the more usual categorical, lines. The authors succeed in portraying accurately those sequelae which require therapeutic intervention. Using the now necessary evidence-based approach, various forms of treatment are described and their applicability to specific post-abuse difficulties indicated. Case illustrations shed further light on the issues discussed. The book is thus a welcome addition to the child maltreatment literature, and will prove particularly useful to busy practitioners as well as to their managers, who will gain an understanding of the complexity and labor-intensive nature of work in this field."
Danya Glaser, MB BS, FRCPsych, Department of Psychological Medicine, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK