Abstract

Most adopted children and their families will, sooner or later, encounter the challenges of dealing with unresolved attachment issues or early traumatic experiences.

New Families, Old Scripts is an accessible introduction to understanding these challenges and helping children and their families to develop a shared language and understanding of one another. Steeped in the experience of the authors, the book offers a wealth of practical guidance and intervention in a no-nonsense style that will be readily understandable to both families and the professionals who work with them. Case examples bring the issues to life, while sample letters addressed to the parent offer sensitive, jargon-free advice on the issues they are likely to encounter - whether it be dealing with anger and aggression, understanding sibling issues or how to react to sexualised behaviour. The authors also explain some of the theoretical background to trauma to encourage a better understanding of the relationship between trauma, attachment and development.

The accessible combination of theoretical approaches and practical advice makes New Families, Old Scripts an ideal resource for social workers and adoptive or foster parents.

Family Futures Consortium provides services for parents and professionals working with adopted and fostered children, including training and consultation for statutory and voluntary agencies nationwide. In their therapeutic work with families, they have evolved a unique intensive, multi-disciplinary approach to supporting children with attachment and trauma-related difficulties.

Aimed at adoptive parents and the professionals who support them, this handbook describes the lasting effects of early maltreatment, separations, and losses on children's development. Case studies illustrate some of the behavioural challenges commonly faced by parents who adopt older children. To facilitate quick reference, the volume is organized alphabetically by topic. Some of the issues addressed include aggressive behaviour, dissociative states, emotional outburst, sibling rivalry and sexualized behaviour.
Schi Techi Book News

Caroline Archer is an adoptive parent, an independent consultant in post-adoption support and a therapeutic parent mentor. She is also the bestselling author of Reparenting the Child who Hurts: A Guide to Healing Developmental Trauma and Attachments
, First Steps in Parenting a Child who Hurts: Tiddlers and Toddlers 2nd Edition, and Next Steps in Parenting a Child who Hurts: Tykes and Teens (with Christine Gordon). Christine Gordon is an adoptive parent with many years' experience of working with adoptive and foster families. She was a co-founder of Family Futures Consortium, London. Alongside her 'hands on' supportive role to parents, she is active in training and promoting the professional role of parent mentor as an integral part of the therapeutic team.

This book is designed for direct use with children and their adoptive parents, as well as a resource for working with wider family members, social workers and other professionals involved with adoptive children and families. The authors are both well known for their work in this field and bring credibility and knowledge to their writing.

Practitioners in the after adoption field will find this book valuable in a number of ways, as will those working with adopters at any stage in the process, or indeed anyone coming new to this area of work. The authors convey a strong sense of what it feels like to parent a child who has been traumatised and had difficult and poor attachment experiences.

I would encourage everyone to approach this as a helpful and thought provoking addition to their toolkit and to reflect on where it challenges and where it adds insight and practical tools.

Adoption & Fostering
This is a book to help children manage their feelings, make sense of their behaviour and help them reconnect in new families with a calm , quiet, voice and gentle touch. It reminds all parents that with understanding commitment and support young people can find a way of understanding `all of themselves' and learn to integrate their relationships with the world.
Lapidus Quarterly