Connecting with Kids through Stories

"...written simply and coherently. ...provides an excellent guide for showing parents how to create stories that enable the child to discover new meanings: those associated with success, not failure, hope, not hopelessness."
- Daniel A. Hughes, Clinical Psychologist, So. China, ME

"...offers parents a supportive tool for entering their child's life in a subtle though direct manner. Parents should find that this book is one answer to their on-going question of 'What can we do?'"
- Gregory C. Keck, Founder and Director of the Attachment and Bonding Center of Ohio, Cleveland, OH

Children whose early development has been damaged by abuse or neglect are notoriously difficult to reach. Through many years' therapeutic work with adopted children and their families, the Family Attachment Center of Minnesota has developed an exciting and innovative technique which uses stories as the main mode for helping parents to communicate and connect with their troubled children. Connecting with Kids through Stories is an accessible guide to Family Attachment Narrative Therapy for the parents of adopted or fostered children, and for the professionals who work with them.

Providing a thorough theoretical grounding, and detailed information on therapeutic techniques and how to assess progress, the book shows parents how to create their own therapeutic stories to promote increased attachment and improved behavior in their child. The authors describe how different kinds of narratives can help with specific difficulties and illustrate their techniques with the story of a fictional family who develop their own narratives to help their adopted child heal.