Review
------
[Reviewed with Next Steps] `Combining thorough and pertinent
research with practical wisdom drawn from years of personal
experience, these books manage the rare accomplishment of being
both informed and passionate. They provide a clear, accessible
account of contemporary research and theory on the effects of
trauma in infancy and childhood, along with a wealth of tested
ideas, approaches and techniques for living and working
effectively with children who have suffered such trauma... Both
volumes should be of immense value to adopters, foster carers,
social workers with looked after children, family placement
workers and anyone who seeks to improve their understanding of
child development and childhood trauma.' -- Adoption and
Fostering `So little adoption research seems rooted in the real
world. Now Caroline Archer, an adoptive parent herself, has
written two working sourcebooks that seek to provide practical
solutions to very practical problems. First Steps looks at
adoption of what are described as "tiddlers and toddlers",
dealing with everything from building a relationship to dealing
with, say, the challenges of insecure attachment. For parents who
adopt babies this book will be helpful. It uses popular
psychology to make sense of child development theory and
intersperses this with practical exercises. These look at life
story work, contact with birth families, eating patterns,
and the over-riding importance of play. Archer is good here at
alerting adoptive parents to those triggers which might re-awaken
memories of earlier abuse or neglect... Next Steps deals with
"tykes and teens". It looks at a similar range of potential
hazards, such as addictive behaviour, sexual acting out and drug
and alcohol use, all now, arguably, the birth-right of any
parent. Of particular use here is a section called "Principles
into Practice" where a range of scenarios is proposed with
possible outcomes. These could also serve as training material.
Both books are grounded in hard won experience.' -- Community
Care `Primarily ed at adoptive parents, but of considerable
use to foster carers of young children, this publication
approaches attachment and developmental issues arising when even
the smallest child is in your care. Extremely well researched, it
offers practical, sensitive guidance through the dark areas of
separation, loss and trauma in early childhood. It reassures that
no problem faced as a result of your child's early experiences is
insignificant or undeserving of a solution. Neither is the reader
patronised by assumptions that some matters should already be
common knowledge. Archer sets out purposefully to encourage
confidence and thereby to enable enjoyment of the young life in
your care, confessing this to be the book she herself would have
welcomed 20 years ago.' -- Foster Care `This book is written by a
parent who has direct experience of the difficulties that very
young children can present to their new parents. The seven
chapters are eminently readable and offer very useful methods of
helping to understand and work to alleviate the hurt felt by very
young children who have been or are in the process of being
transferred to new permanent situations, whether by adoption or
fostering. The chapters are not loaded with references for the
reader to wade through, although the information is provided at
the back of the book, along with a no-nonsense, very
understandable glossary of the jargon (which has been kept to a
minimum anyway). The style of the writer made me feel able to
grasp immediately what she was trying to explain, with the
illustrations involving the family of hedgehogs bringing the
sensitivity of the content alive for me. The sense of intimacy in
the book made me want to read more. It offers new parents and
professionals everywhere a practical guide in a delightful,
sensitive, and above all, informative way. I thoroughly recommend
it and will go out and buy the next companion book "Tykes and
Teens".' -- Professional Social Work `A "must have" book for both
adoptive parents and for those professionals who help adoptive
families forge new family ties...the author, herself an adoptive
parent, addresses a wide variety of very complex topics with a
marked sensitivity to the varying needs of children who may have
had a wide range of early life experiences. Although in general
the text is easy to read and understand, there is a glossary for
those who might be unfamiliar with some of the terminology.
References are made to well established issues as well as to some
of the newer research on the impact of early abuse and neglect on
brain development. I particularly appreciated the special focus
on identifying abnormal arousal patterns and helping the child
with these. Parents and professionals alike will value the
specific ideas provided for coping with problem behaviours and
for building closer family ties.' -- from the Foreword by Dr Vera
Fahlberg
Review
------
[Reviewed with Next Steps] `Combining thorough and pertinent
research with practical wisdom drawn from years of personal
experience, these books manage the rare accomplishment of being
both informed and passionate. They provide a clear, accessible
account of contemporary research and theory on the effects of
trauma in infancy and childhood, along with a wealth of tested
ideas, approaches and techniques for living and working
effectively with children who have suffered such trauma… Both
volumes should be of immense value to adopters, foster carers,
social workers with looked after children, family placement
workers and anyone who seeks to improve their understanding of
child development and childhood trauma.' (Adoption and Fostering)
`So little adoption research seems rooted in the real world. Now
Caroline Archer, an adoptive parent herself, has written two
working sourcebooks that seek to provide practical solutions to
very practical problems. First Steps looks at adoption of what
are described as "tiddlers and toddlers", dealing with everything
from building a relationship to dealing with, say, the challenges
of insecure attachment. For parents who adopt babies this book
will be helpful. It uses popular psychology to make sense of
child development theory and intersperses this with practical
exercises. These look at life story work, contact with birth
families, eating patterns, and the over-riding importance
of play. Archer is good here at alerting adoptive parents to
those triggers which might re-awaken memories of earlier abuse or
neglect… Next Steps deals with "tykes and teens". It looks at a
similar range of potential hazards, such as addictive behaviour,
sexual acting out and drug and alcohol use, all now, arguably,
the birth-right of any parent. Of particular use here is a
section called "Principles into Practice" where a range of
scenarios is proposed with possible outcomes. These could also
serve as training material. Both books are grounded in hard won
experience.' (Community Care)
`Primarily ed at adoptive parents, but of considerable use to
foster carers of young children, this publication approaches
attachment and developmental issues arising when even the
smallest child is in your care. Extremely well researched, it
offers practical, sensitive guidance through the dark areas of
separation, loss and trauma in early childhood. It reassures that
no problem faced as a result of your child's early experiences is
insignificant or undeserving of a solution. Neither is the reader
patronised by assumptions that some matters should already be
common knowledge. Archer sets out purposefully to encourage
confidence and thereby to enable enjoyment of the young life in
your care, confessing this to be the book she herself would have
welcomed 20 years ago.' (Foster Care)
`This book is written by a parent who has direct experience of
the difficulties that very young children can present to their
new parents. The seven chapters are eminently readable and offer
very useful methods of helping to understand and work to
alleviate the hurt felt by very young children who have been or
are in the process of being transferred to new permanent
situations, whether by adoption or fostering. The chapters are
not loaded with references for the reader to wade through,
although the information is provided at the back of the book,
along with a no-nonsense, very understandable glossary of the
jargon (which has been kept to a minimum anyway). The style of
the writer made me feel able to grasp immediately what she was
trying to explain, with the illustrations involving the family of
hedgehogs bringing the sensitivity of the content alive for me.
The sense of intimacy in the book made me want to read more. It
offers new parents and professionals everywhere a practical guide
in a delightful, sensitive, and above all, informative way. I
thoroughly recommend it and will go out and buy the next
companion book "Tykes and Teens".' (Professional Social Work)
`A "must have" book for both adoptive parents and for those
professionals who help adoptive families forge new family
ties…the author, herself an adoptive parent, addresses a wide
variety of very complex topics with a marked sensitivity to the
varying needs of children who may have had a wide range of early
life experiences. Although in general the text is easy to read
and understand, there is a glossary for those who might be
unfamiliar with some of the terminology. References are made to
well established issues as well as to some of the newer research
on the impact of early abuse and neglect on brain development. I
particularly appreciated the special focus on identifying
abnormal arousal patterns and helping the child with these.
Parents and professionals alike will value the specific ideas
provided for coping with problem behaviours and for building
closer family ties.' (from the Foreword by Dr Vera Fahlberg)
