– When Trauma Grips Our Children –
More than three percent of all children are estimated to qualify for a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. Less than half of them are receiving clinical help.
Trauma in children varies in how it presents—in behavior, emotions, learning, and social interactions—yet how to address it depends largely on its presentation. Children may exhibit many types of behavior that could be attributed to trauma, such as telling lies and feeling shame, lacking focus or having outbursts in class, and distrusting peers and adults, among much more.
When you read this book, you'll learn how to support a child with severe trauma by employing a sensitive yet structured approach. Discussion of a kaleidoscope of case studies using the new Basic Pyramid model, developed by the author, will help you to determine appropriate intervention.
Aimed at school staff and other caregivers on the front lines of providing assistance without in-depth training or an understanding of how trauma manifests, this book offers a detailed approach to helping children who have experienced trauma. A parent/caregiver version of the book is set to be released in the near future, with the working title of “Parents Helping Traumatized Children: A New Way to Heal”.
Features:
Introduces a new intervention model used as the basis of care for children with trauma
Offers clear application of intervention practices in case studies
Emphasizes the link between trauma, behavior, learning, emotions, and social interaction skills among children
Demonstrates that supportive action can produce positive responses in children with trauma
– Reviews of When Trauma Grips Our Children –
"Anyone – teachers, counselors, other caregivers – faced with children's or adolescents' complicated, challenging behaviors should read this book. And if you find yourself uncomfortable with interventions that feel too punishing and lacking empathy or are frustrated with so-called tried-and-true methods that are ultimately ineffective, you should keep this book near and refer to it often. Having so many years of clinical experience with children - with trauma histories, autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities, and virtually every other behavioral health difficulty - enabled Dr. Levine to design a system of intervention that can be effective with any struggling child. This is a framework that is applicable to classrooms and many other settings. Every time I found myself thinking 'Yes, but what about…' I found the answer. In short, this is a new way to conceptualize challenging behavior that is critical for us to consider closely and thoughtfully."
— Roger Anderson, LICSW
Retired clinician, clinical supervisor, & program administrator for children & adults with intellectual disabilities, autism spectrum disorders & persistent behavioral health challenges
"Dr. James Levine has demystified understanding and responding to children struggling with trauma for anyone working to help. When Trauma Grips Our Children uses relatable real-world examples from Dr. Levine's decades of experience to transform clinical terminology into easily understandable language for the rest of us. Dr. Levine offers insight into why our common, and well-intentioned, approaches to help children often fall short. While the arrival of this book could not be timelier, I am confident that it will long serve as a staple resource for school practitioners in our increasingly traumatic world. This book should be required reading for every aspiring and veteran classroom teacher, paraprofessional, special education provider, counselor, and school administrator, as well as any parents hoping to reach a child gripped in the psychological aftermath of trauma."
—Dr. William E. Collins
Superintendent of Schools, Parishville-Hopkinton Central School District, NY
"When Trauma Grips Our Children is an excellent book that educators, therapists, parents, and anybody working with children who struggle should read. By thoughtfully analyzing the root causes of the behavior of children who have suffered from all sorts of trauma, Dr. Levine provides practical and effective ways to support the many kids who have suffered and minimize further trauma. I particularly appreciated how readable this was for someone like me who is not an educator or a therapist. In addition, the book's many stories about children that the author has worked with and acknowledgement of what he learned from his patients adds to the tremendous value and readability of the book."
— Joanne Marqusee
President & CEO of Cooley Dickinson Health Care; Parent of an Adult on the Autism Spectrum
"This is a remarkable book. Counselors, teachers and other caregivers can often struggle to make sense of behaviors that, at face value, seem so counter-intuitive. Traumatized kids can lash out when one tries to help them, sabotage relationships that appear supportive, regress into actions of a much younger child and many other reactions that seem odd to a non-traumatized person. Jim provides a plain English roadmap to allow one to navigate such difficult terrain, based on years of practical experience. I believe anyone that is working with traumatized children should read this book."
—Paul Podolsky
Author of Raising a Thief
"Dr. Levine's book will not only be a welcome tool to therapists and teachers, it will be their daily detailed guide in their difficult work of treating troubled children. Most children are troubled some of the time, or at some stages of growing up and parents will also welcome many of the offered suggestions. I especially appreciated the affection and respect that this author shows in all his treatment recommendations. We are fortunate to have such a gift from a deeply experienced clinician."
—Sophie Freud, Ph.D.
Professor Emerita
– Learning from Behavior –
This book was originally published in hardcover in 2007, issued in paperback in 2010 and, later, in a Turkish edition.
Levine shows us how to observe, question, and think about children's problem behaviors in school from the child's perspective so we can understand what is motivating children to act as they do before we intervene. Cases included in this book range from noncompliance and poor academic performance to disinhibition, suspected ADHD, PTSD, and injury-caused acting out.
Understanding children's problem behaviors in school— seeing beyond the surface actions to reveal and name the root needs fueling those actions—is vital to helping the child. Yet, whether teachers in schools or parents at home, adults often make quick, cursory assessments, then an intervention is sprung. Explanations might be sought from the child, who often resists and becomes more distant. Punishment can occur and things are taken away, but the behavior worsens. These scenarios and similar occurrences frustrate parents, teachers, and other school professionals alike. In Learning from Behavior, Levine shows us how to observe, question, and think about problem behaviors in such a way that we can understand what is motivating the children to act as they do. Behavior, after all, often represents what the child cannot communicate, due to language limitations, level of psychological development, or traumatic experience. Children think differently; they are not small adults. We need to understand the behavior from the child's perspective before we can intervene to change the behavior. Author Levine shows us, incorporating illustrative vignettes, how to do that.
Step by step, Levine, a clinical social worker experienced as a consultant to dozens of schools, helps us take the astute advice cited in one children's song we've all heard: stop, look and listen, to first understand the behavior. Question the causes. Cases included in this book range from noncompliance and poor academic performance to disinhibition, suspected ADHD, PTSD, and injury-caused acting out. We hear about the history of behavioral interventions, listen as children tell us how they perceive these interventions, and look over the social worker's shoulder as effective helping strategies are put into action. As Levine explains, Given the challenges we share communally in helping children, we should do everything possible to learn more about children's behavior, enhance our methods for reaching out to them, and refine our approaches to intervention. All of us—teachers, parents, clinicians, researchers, and administrators, along with the children we serve—must participate in this vital endeavor.
– Reviews of Learning from Behavior –
“The case studies are extremely interesting and provide excellent insight into how to better serve these types of students.”
— VOYA Review
"Levine helps parents, teachers, researchers and other concerned readers understand the psychology behind children's problem behaviors in school. Using illustrative vignettes, he reveals the motivations that can cause behaviors such as noncompliance, acting out, and disinhibition. He goes on to suggest how a better understanding of the reasons for behavior can assist in the creation of effective interventions."
—Reference & Research Book News
“In this important book, Dr. Levine shares the practice wisdom he has accumulated over the course of his career about working with behavior problems in school settings. His basic premise is deceptively simple to conceive but far-reaching and complex in its enactment. This book is a jewel and a must read for all health/mental health practitioners, parents and educators in any setting who are charged with understanding school-based problem behaviors in children and evolving appropriate interventions."