A therapeutic treasure box for working with children and adolescents with developmental trauma : creative techniques and activities / Karen Treisman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Treisman, Dr. Karen, author.

Series:

Therapeutic Treasures Collection.

Therapeutic Treasures Collection

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Adolescence.

Resilience (Personality trait).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (426 pages)

Distribution:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing (UK), 2025.

Place of Publication:

London : Jessica Kingsley Publisher, 2017.

System Details:

text file HTML

Summary:

Like a treasure chest, this resource overflows with valuable resources - information, ideas and techniques to inspire and support those working with children who have experienced relational and developmental trauma. Drawing on a range of therapeutic models including systemic, psychodynamic, trauma, sensory, neurobiological, neurocognitive, attachment, cognitive behavioural, and creative ideas, Dr Karen Treisman explains how we understand trauma and its impact on children, teens and their families. She details how it can be seen in symptoms such as nightmares, sleeping difficulties, emotional dysregulation, rage, and outbursts. Theory and strategies are accompanied by a treasure trove of practical, creative, and ready-to-use resources including over 100 illustrated worksheets and handouts, top tips, recommended sample questions, and photographed examples.

Contents:

Intro

A Therapeutic Treasure Box for Working With Children and Adolescents with Developmental Trauma - Creative Techniques and Activities, by Dr. Karen Treisman

1. Introduction to Using the Book, Guiding Principles, and Underpinning Rationale

Pitfalls, planning, preparation, principles, and overall factors to be mindful of when implementing the strategies in this book

The target audience and the terms used

Unique individuals within unique contexts

Informed by assessment, formulation, and code of conduct

Being mindful of the potential impact of the exercises, and the importance of familiarising and practising the tools before implementing them

Believing and investing in the tools

Part of a bigger process: exhale, expand, and embed

The magic is in the process, not just the product

Relational trauma requires relational repair - keeping the relationship at the centre

Relational and developmental trauma framework and child development base

Prioritising and establishing multi-levelled safety first

Viewing behaviour within a context and as a form of communication

Holding in mind what ghosts, angels, and other relational dynamic children/families are bringing into the room

Working with hesitance and cautiousness

Non-verbal communication and whole-body listening

Explaining the rationale, linking to other concepts, and gaining consent

Timing and location

Greetings and hellos

Being prepared and handling items with care

Areas of difference and selection of materials

Starting small and in a manageable way

Routine and structure

Balanced with strengths and lightness

Monitoring and evaluating tools

Recording their journey through making a personal folder or box.

Why creative and expressive tools and techniques might be helpful in the context of relational and developmental trauma and when working with young people

2. Tools for Supporting the Assessment and Engagement of and Building Rapport with Young People

Introduction

Practical, expressive, and creative assessment tools and techniques

Free playing and drawing

Shared and co-constructing activities

Getting to know the child and all-about-me tasks

Story of my name

Family sculpts, genograms, and eco-maps

Directive exercises using the arts

Expressing, identifying, and expanding on a range of feelings

Children's goals, wishes, hopes, and dreams for therapy, themselves, their relationships, and their lives

Scaling and measuring

Visual timeline, path, paper chain, or comic strip

3. Working Towards Establishing Multi-Levelled Safety (Inner Safety, Emotional Safety, Physical Safety, Felt Safety)

Introduction and why establishing safety is fundamental to interventions within the context of relational and developmental trauma

Experience-dependent brain and trauma as multi-sensory experience

Survival mode and safety

Implications for practice

Actively working towards establishing safety within the therapeutic process

Practical and creative strategies for contributing to the feeling of multi-levelled safety

Conversations about safety and safety collages, images, poems, and sculpts

Creating a place of safety (physical)

Creating a safe place (cognitive/imaginary) and using creative methods to embed the concept

A safe place for an item/object

Safety tour

Creating a calming, soothing, and self-regulating box

Safe person/people

Safety shield and protective items

Exploring our and others' multi-layered triggers.

Self-regulation, centering, and grounding activities to increase feelings of safety

Coping and option cards

4. Strategies for Supporting Children who have Experienced Relational and Developmental Trauma to Identify, Label, Express, and Regulate their Feelings

Emotional regulation in the context of relational and developmental trauma

Practical strategies for supporting children to identify, express, name, and regulate their emotions

Role models and everyday naming of feelings

Practising and rehearsing

Self-reflection and self-care

Getting to know the whole child

All feelings are accepted

Mixed and a melting pot of feelings

Creative, expressive, and playful ways to discuss feelings

Externalising and metaphors

Mind-body links

Monitoring arousal levels

Strength, Resilience, and Hope-Based Practices

5. Finding Ways to Identify, Notice, Celebrate, and Build on Children's Strengths, Skills, Resilience, and Positive Qualities

Why is focusing on building children's self-esteem so important?

Negative self-beliefs reinforced by the wider systems (the power of language)

Strengths-based language and storying

Our own relationship with praise, encouragement, and positive feedback

Finding it difficult and/or uncomfortable to hear and receive praise and positive feedback

Children who find it harder to identify positives about themselves

Practical and creative strategies for building on children's self-esteem and positive sense of self

Modelling verbally and non-verbally positive self-esteem

Naming, validating, and acknowledging a child's emotions and lived experiences

Quality time together and really getting to know the young person

Confidence-boosting and curiosity-enhancing activities

Providing opportunities for mastery and agency.

Maximising opportunities for success

Normalising and owning mistakes

Keeping the young person in mind and showing them this

Non-verbal and verbal praise

Tangible, creative, and expressive ways of noticing, celebrating, praising, and expanding on the child's positive skills, strengths, talents, qualities, and attributes

Praise boards, strengths cards, and celebration walls

Maximising on everyday items and routines

Sparkle moments diary, treasure box, journey/jewel jar, and bottled brilliance

Positive affirmations

Tower of strengths, skyscraper of strengths, patchwork of positives, shield of strengths, blanket of bravery, pillow of positives, and quilt of qualities

Rainbow of resources, puzzle of positives, brilliant beautiful body, and star of strengths

Strengths doodle bear, blanket, T-shirt, pillow, and scarf

Chocolate box of positive qualities, positive pearls, and strength shells/stars

Positive name acronym, positive self-portrait, picture of positives, and strengths snowflake

Strengths-based jewellery

Self-esteem and sensory hand

Expanding and embedding each identified positive trait

Reflecting on past challenges, what skills the young person has overcome, and what journey they have travelled

Externalising confidence and self-esteem

Role models and inspirers

Tree of Life (Ncube, 2007)

Re-shaping ideas and metaphors of negativity and criticism

Imagery re-scripting

Future-oriented thinking and reconnecting with dreams

6. Strengthening and Supporting "Parent-Child" Relationships, Relational Trust, and Interpersonal Connections

Who is this chapter for?

Positioning these strategies within the context of parent-child therapies and factors to be mindful of.

Why is it important to focus on parent/caregiver-child relationships in the context of relational and developmental trauma?

Some of the complexities of therapeutically re-parenting a child: the parenting orchestra/choir (adapted from Working with Relational and Developmental Trauma in Children and Adolescents-Treisman, 2016)

Some underpinning positions and frameworks for promoting positive parent-child relationships in the context of relational and developmental trauma

Awareness, sensitivity, and knowledge around the multi-layered impact of developmental and relational trauma and how this requires relational repair

Second-chance secure base and safe haven

Staying regulated and in one's thinking mind

Acknowledging, naming, and validating emotions and lived experiences

Viewing behaviour as a form of communication and as being within a context

Developmentally sequenced parenting

Whole-brain-body approach

Consistent and predictable parenting

Picking battles and setting limits

Warm, playful, and nurturing parenting

Spending quality time together

Really getting to know each other

Keeping the young person in mind and showing them that they have been kept in mind

Providing opportunities for mastery and agency

Strengths, resiliency, and hope

Practical and creative strategies for building and improving parent-child relationships

Magnifying positives and being strengths-focused

Solution-focused ideas and expanding on the unique exceptions

Reflecting on what a positive relationship is, exploring each other's meaning-making around relationships, and using inspirational quotes

Understanding the roots and the feeders of some relationship difficulties

The journey of one's relationship

Reflecting on wishes and hopes for one's relationship.

Perspective-taking and role reversal.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9781805014577

1805014579

9781784505530

1784505536

OCLC:

999672021