With contributions from prominent experts, this pragmatic book takes a close look at the nature of complex psychological trauma in children and adolescents and the clinical challenges it presents. Each chapter shows how a complex trauma perspective can provide an invaluable unifying framework for case conceptualization, assessment, and intervention amidst the chaos and turmoil of these young patients' lives. A range of evidence-based and promising therapies are reviewed and illustrated with vivid case vignettes. The volume is grounded in clinical innovations and cutting-edge research on child and adolescent brain development, attachment, and emotion regulation, and discusses diagnostic criteria, including those from DSM-IV and DSM-5. See also Drs. Courtois and Ford's edited volume Treating Complex Traumatic Stress Disorders (Adults) and their authored volume, Treatment of Complex Trauma: A Sequenced, Relationship-Based Approach.

This book should be of value to all mental health professionals, researchers, and students interested in traumatic stress, as well as legal professionals dealing with PTSD-related issues.

The primary difference between people who are barely managing symptoms related to their PTSD diagnosis, narrowly getting by each day with the help of one or several biological medicines and [maybe] therapy, and those who heal permanently from the disorder is rooted in knowledge and control. PTSD changes the brain’s chemistry, and the symptoms that develop make the person oversensitive and overreactive to the world. While the world cannot be changed, anyone can change the way they react to the world, even if they are suffering with PTSD. It is particularly important for PTSD sufferers to counter this over-reactivity and lack of control. This can be achieved with a plan of action that includes crucial elements that will help you regain control of your life. Written from personal, academic, and research experience, The Fundamentals of PTSD Stress will show you tools you can use in your life to take control over the triggers, the flashbacks, fears, and freakouts associated with PTSD.

More than 13 million Americans experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and one out of 13 adults will develop it in their lifetime. Recent worldwide crises and events including the Iraq war; the September 11th attacks; numerous Columbine-like events; the Catholic Church child molestation scandal; and the Katrina tragedy in New Orleans, continue to present thousands more PTSD cases each year in all age groups. This book helps victims make sense of the events that led to their illness and teaches them how to create a new reality with specific advice and action plans that put them on the road to recovery and long-term healing.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an extremely debilitating anxiety condition that can occur after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal. Although many know that this mental health issue affects veterans of war, many may not know that it also affects victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, natural disasters, crime, car accidents and accidents in the workplace. No matter the cause of their illness, people with PTSD will often relive their traumatic experience in the form of flashbacks, memories, nightmares, and frightening thoughts. This is especially true when they are exposed to events or objects that remind them of their trauma. Left untreated, PTSD can lead to emotional numbness, insomnia, addiction, anxiety, depression, and even suicide. In The PTSD Workbook, Second Edition, psychologists and trauma experts Mary Beth Williams and Soili Poijula outline techniques and interventions used by PTSD experts from around the world to offer trauma survivors the most effective tools available to conquer their most distressing trauma-related symptoms, whether they are a veteran, a rape survivor, or a crime victim. Based in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), the book is extremely accessible and easy-to-use, offering evidence-based therapy at a low cost. This new edition features chapters focusing on veterans with PTSD, the link between cortisol and adrenaline and its role in PTSD and overall mental health, and the mind-body component of PTSD. This book is designed to arm PTSD survivors with the emotional resilience they need to get their lives back together after a traumatic event.