Building a Home Within: Meeting the Emotional Needs of Children and Youth in Foster Care

All children need stable, lasting relationships with caring adults to ensure their healthy emotional, cognitive, and social development. But for children and adolescents in foster care, these essential relationships are often absent. This book presents a proven solution based on over 10 years of groundbreaking work by the Children's Psychotherapy Project (CPP): When young people work with the same therapist for as long as they need to, they'll make better progress toward developing strong, healthy relationships and hope for the future. More than a dozen experts from the CPP give psychologists, social workers, counselors, and program administrators a complete, research–supported introduction to this successful "one child, one therapist, for as long as it takes" model as they share their triumphs and challenges. Through the lessons these therapists learned as they donated their time to weekly psychotherapy sessions, readers will gain new insight on how to build positive relationships with children. They'll learn how to address various aspects of foster care, includingthe neuropsychological effects of foster care on childrenthe specific challenges of preschool children in foster carekinship carereunification with parentsfoster children and the educational systemcollaboration between public and private forcesthe transition out of foster care at age 18With a combined emphasis on biological, psychological, and social aspects that sets it apart from other books on the subject, this candid and compelling resource will help therapists fully address the emotional needs of children and adolescents in foster care.P.S. Perfect for professional development! Includes case studies for discussion and extended therapy-in-action scripts that show how children speak and how to respond.*Royalties from the sale of this book will support the programs of A Home Within, a non-profit organization building lasting relationships for foster youth—one hour at a time.