Featuring in-depth case presentations from master clinicians, this volume highlights the remarkable capacity of traumatized children to guide their own healing process. The book describes what posttraumatic play looks like and how it can foster resilience and coping. Demonstrated are applications of play, art, and other expressive therapies with children who have faced such overwhelming experiences as sexual abuse or chronic neglect. The contributors discuss ways to facilitate forms of expression that promote mastery and growth, as well as how to intervene when play becomes stuck in destructive patterns. They share effective strategies for engaging hard-to-reach children and building trusting therapeutic relationships. I. The Extent of the Problem and Its Impact 1. Introduction, Eliana Gil 2. A Review of Current Research on the Incidence and Prevalence of Interpersonal Childhood Trauma, Jennifer A. Shaw 3. The Role of Healthy Relational Interactions in Buffering the Impact of Childhood Trauma, Christine R. Ludy-Dobson and Bruce D. Perry 4. Children's Self-Initiated Gradual Exposure: The Wonders of Post-Traumatic Play and Behavioral Reenactments, Eliana Gil II. Clinical Responses 5. Silent Grieving in a World without Words: A Child Witnesses His Brother's Murder, Eliana Gil 6. The Owner of a Broken Heart: The Cumulative Trauma of Surgery and Sexual Abuse, Nicole Erin Jalazo 7. A Hero's Journey: A Boy Who Lost His Parents and Found Himself, Vincent L. Pastore 8. A Tornado Disrupts the Wedding, to the Relief of the Unwilling Bride: A Girl's Quest for Healing after Sexual Abuse, Myriam L. Goldin 9. Finding the Treasure Within: Spontaneous Storytelling and the Sandplay Journey of an Emotionally Despairing Girl, Rosalind L. Heiko 10. "Stitches Are Stronger Than Glue": A Child Directs the Healing of Her Shattered Heart, David A. Crenshaw 11. Manny's Story: A Soul Ascending, Eric J. Green 12. "I Am an Artist": A Sexually Traumatized Girl's Self-Portraits in Paint and Clay, Barbara Sobol 13. The Gift of Time: Helping to Heal through Long-Term Treatment Involving Complex Trauma and Cultural Issues, Athena A. Drewes 14. "This Mommy Has No Milk!": A Neglected Child's Adaptation to Loss and Hunger, Eliana Gil 15. Play and the Transformation of Feeling: Niki's Case, Eva-Maria Simms Edited by Eliana Gil, PhD, Clinical and Educational Specialist, Childhelp, Inc., Fairfax, Virginia; Clinical Director, Gil Center for Healing and Play, Fairfax, Virginia; Adjunct Faculty, Virginia Tech University, Falls Church, Virginia --- from the publisher | 
