Pflegekinder und ihre Entwicklungschancen nach frühen traumatischen Erfahrungen

Whoever hears about the death of an abused, neglected, traumatized child wonders: How could this happen? Who does not feel helplessness, sorrow, compassion, or anger? Especially when it involves the parents who are responsible for their child's death. For 30 years, the authors have been working with children who have been separated from their biological parents due to their parents' limited parenting abilities and are living permanently in foster or adoptive families. Only the separation from their biological parents, often accompanied by the release for adoption, and the integration into a substitute family offers many children the chance to cope with traumatic experiences. If a child utilizes the relationships with their "new" parents as a transference relationship, similar to a therapeutic relationship, previous experiences can be corrected, and satisfying parent-child relationships can be developed. Many case studies illustrate how to access the child's inner world and open oneself to their experiences. A detailed account of the effects of early abuse and how these are processed is provided. Additionally, the processes by which children integrate into substitute families are described. Specific issues such as visitation contacts with biological parents or sibling placements are also addressed. The book is aimed at child and adolescent therapists, foster and adoptive parents, social workers, residential educators, psychologists and therapists, teachers, doctors, lawyers, judges, and journalists.