There is something extremely unsettling about the disturbed behaviour of sexually abused and severely troubled children. In spite of a sometimes exasperating measure of perversion and destructive wilfulness, these children manage to communicate a clear plea for help - a plea which deeply affects those in their immediate surroundings who find themselves struggling to make sense of these contradictory messages. This book describes significant new developments in the understanding and treatment of children and adolescents suffering from psychotic levels of disturbance.
Each chapter contains a clinical description of a child emerging from a psychotic state, creating a useful collection of case histories. Part One concerns sexually abused children, Part Two discusses psychotic children with severe developmental delay, and Part Three describes the treatment of children whose difficulties have both internal and external roots. Each part is followed by an authoritative critical commentary. A glossary of terms is included at the end of the book.
Edited by Margaret Rustin, Maria Rhode, Alex Dubinsky & Héléne Dubinsky
Introduction Margaret Rustin
Theoretical Overview Alex Dubinsky
The technique of child psychotherapy Susan Reid
Part I Psychosis and Sexual Abuse
Finding a safe place: a four year-old child’s recovery from sexual abuse Deborah Sussman The difficulty of establishing a space for thinking: the therapy of a seven-year old girl Lynda Miller Survival of the self: a sixteen year old girl’s search for a good object Chriso Andreou
Discussion Alex Dubinsky & Héléne Dubinsky
Part II Psychosis and developmental delay
The beginnings of mind: psychotherapy of a sexually abused six-year-old girl Ann Wells Symbolisation and the sense of identity Daphne Briggs ‘Here I am’: self and object in a developmentally delayed boy with autistic features Sara Rance A little boy who did not want to learn anything Alex Dubinsky
Discussion
Part III The Complexity of Psychotic States
Psychosis and autism: schizophrenic, perverse and manic depressive states during psychotherapy Genevieve Haag Jeremy and the bitten roof Héléne Dubinsky ‘The ghost is coming’: the fear of annihilation in a nine-year-old boy S.M. Sherwin-White Going to pieces: autistic and schizoid solutions Maria Rhode Rigidity and stability in a psychotic patient: some thoughts about obstacles to facing reality in psychotherapy Margaret Rustin
Discussion Margaret Rustin
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