UNCONDITIONAL CARE: Relationship-Based, Behavioral Intervention with Vulnerable Children and Families
Author(s): John S. SPRINSON (Author)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication Date: 26 Jan. 2010
Language: English
Print length: 304 pages
ISBN-10: 0199733031
ISBN-13: 9780199733033
Book Description
This clinician-friendly guide presents a model for engaging the most challenging children and families who are served by the child welfare, mental health, juvenile justice, and special educations systems. These children are among the most troubled clients that treatment providers will ever encounter. They have been failed by every adult, every treatment modality, and every system of care that they have encountered. Unconditional Care, a breakthrough guide from the founder and clinical director of California’s Seneca Center for Children and Families, offers both a theoretical model and practical guidelines for working with this most difficult group of children. The approach weaves together attachment theory and learning theory into a coherent relationship-based intervention strategy built around a no-fail policy: a child can never be discharged from a program for exhibiting the behaviors that resulted in the placement. Professionals working with these families instead focus on re-building relationships that teach children to secure safe and supportive relationships with caregivers using new behaviors and skills to replace the destructive ones that have, until now, organized their worldview. The concept of unconditional care allows, for the first time, a safe space for youth to reconstruct their perceptions of themselves and those who care for them. Rich case examples, quick-reference bullets and boxes, and sample assessment and planning worksheets make this a handy clinical reference and training tool for mental health and child welfare professionals.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Brilliant…Clinicians and treatment programs will find Unconditional Care indispensable in understanding traumatized children and helping them change and grow.” –Douglas Davies, MSW, PhD, Lecturer, School of Social Work, University of Michigan
“Sprinson and Berrick take on the task of integrating behavioral approaches with what we now know about attachment-based research and child development, offering phase-oriented, practical approaches to help anguished children heal.” –Sandra L. Bloom, MD, Associate Professor of Health Management and Policy, School of Public Health, Drexel University
“This book is one of the most interesting and useful integrations of clinical science and successful intervention strategies that I have ever encountered. Highly recommended!” –Phillip R. Shaver, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, University of California, Davis and coeditor of Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research, and Clinical Interventions
“Unconditional Care succeeds in clearly articulating both attachment theory and behavioral learning theory…The book is highly recommended…” —PsycCRITIQUES
About the Author
John S. Sprinson, PhD, is Clinical Director of Seneca Center for Children.
Ken Berrick is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Seneca Center for Children.
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