The Abused Child Psychodynamic Understanding and Treatment

Capturing the complexities of working with abused children, Heineman explores the intrapsychic worlds of these youngsters and examines many of the paradoxes and complications encountered when treating them. The book traces the interplay of neurobiological and psychological facets of behavior to show how abuse derails normal development and how psychodynamic psychotherapy can reestablish emotional connections.
Chapters highlight special issues involved when working with children who have been physically, sexually, and emotionally abused, exploring memory and disclosure, dissociation and externalization, and the relationship between action and spoken language. The book also addresses important factors in understanding and working with parents and caregivers and reviews such relevant legal issues as the process of court-ordered evaluations. Throughout, clinical vignettes illustrate the practical applications of concepts and theories discussed.

Introduction1. What Is Abuse and Who Decides?2. Treating a Moving Target: Developmental Considerations in Work with Abused Children3. A Template for Developmentally Informed Evaluations4. Neurobiology and Psychology: The Formation and Meaning of Symptoms5. Memory and Disclosure6. Looking Outward: Externalization and Dissociation7. The Paradox of Language in Treating the Unspeakable8. Good Guys and Bad Guys: The Temptations of Splitting9. Collaborative Work with Parents of Abused Children10. The Unconscious Transmission of Abuse11. The Interface between Legal and Psychodynamic Considerations Conclusion

Toni Vaughn Heineman, DMH, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, is in private practice in San Francisco. Dr. Heineman is also on the faculty of the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California. An active supervisor, consultant, and evaluator, she has written and lectured widely on clinical issues affecting children and adults.