Understanding the Trauma of Institutionalised Children

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Parents adopting a child from an institution (or orphanage) are often not quite prepared for what they can expect and how to deal with it. Institutionalisation affects a child's brain development, physical development, cognitive development, emotional development and stress response. Understanding how care in an institution is different from care in a family and the effects this has on a child helps parents prepare to welcome their child and support him or her. The book also gives some advice on pitfalls and helpful approaches to caring for a previously institutionalised child, handling challenging behaviour, and helping the child catch up on delayed or skipped development. Areas discussed are expectation management, a general understanding of the development of the brain and the stress response system in a child, the roles of attachment, physical contact, stimulation, attention, and living in the community in child development, and the effects of institutionalisation such as attachment disorders, challenging behaviour, self-harm, and health problems. And how to help the child build trust and relationships, how to help reduce stress and establish felt safety, and deal with challenging behaviour - including positive disciplining in a way that does not cause further harm.