JOYANNA SILBERG, Ph.D.​

​REVIEWS



"It is easy to say that this book is a must read. It is, of course, for child therapists. But it is a must read as well for adult clinicians because it speaks about the traumatized children the adult clients have been and for whom their inner child parts are a vivid testimony. Adult therapists will find not only new ways to understand their clients’ difficulties but also new, creative, and human ways to help them heal."

Sandra Baita PsyD, Journal of Trauma & Dissociation

 

"For any clinician who works with this population or suspects they may have children or teens who display dissociative symptoms, The Child Survivor is a reading list must."

Maureen C. Kenny, Florida International University

 

"Reaching back in memory, I find myself reconnecting with a jarring yet formative experience early in my clinical career. I am sitting at a table in a small, nondescript office that is rather ugly and designated for mental health intake assessments. The file on the table describes a five-year-old with burns over 45 percent of his body, the scars a result ofattempted parental murder. 'Oh, God,' I say to myself, 'Who can do this to a child?' I learn one of the first lessons of child mental health care: There are no worst case scenarios, no situations beyond which human cruelty cannot exist.  A knock on the door frame accompanies a little voice: 'Are you Clare?' I turn to see James, a young child to whom I extend an invitation to sit in the large office chair. 'Yes,' I say. He smiles, sits for a moment, and quietly asks, 'Are you going to kill me?' Nothing, nothing in your training will ever prepare you to respond to such a question.

It is from this background of clinical experience that I greet Silberg’s book titled The Child Survivor: Healing Developmental Trauma and Dissociation with joy, excitement, and relief. This is a 'must-have' text for clinicians and clinical educators, particularly those who educate psychology students at a master’s and doctoral degree level."  download the full review here >>

Clare Lawlor, PhD, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Lewis University

"The Child Survivor is an extraordinary resource on the treatment of traumatized children who exhibit dissociative adaptations and disorders. At once highly readable and accessible, The Child Survivor provides practical suggestions for working with some of the most difficult and intransigent symptoms in traumatized children and adolescents. The techniques described are based on Dr. Silberg's own clinical experience integrated with the most recent advances in the neurosciences and treatment research. This book is a must-read for all who treat complex trauma survivors as it will boost their range of clinical approaches and skills and their confidence."

Christine A. Courtois, PhD, ABPP, author of Healing the Incest Wound: Adult Survivors in Therapy and The Treatment of Complex Trauma: A Sequenced, Relationship–Based Approach

"Joyanna Silberg has provided clinicians with a unique and indispensable resource for treating children and adolescents with dissociative symptoms. The EDUCATE approach that is the centerpiece of the book is an admirably concise, thorough, and clinically sophisticated guide to enable clinicians to fulfilling the book’s goal of assisting dissociative children to regain the foundational competences of self-determination and self-regulation. The clinical examples resonate with the experience of real-world clinical practice and illustrate practical strategies that every therapist needs."
Julian D. Ford, PhD, professor of psychiatry at the University of Connecticut
 

"In this long-awaited book, Joyanna Silberg, a masterful therapist and teacher, demystifies dissociation and distills decades of clinical wisdom and lessons from her remarkable work with hundreds of dissociative children. Most importantly, she provides the reader with clear, practical intervention strategies that work. Every child therapist should read this book!"
Bradley C. Stolbach, PhD, director of the Chicago Child Trauma Center at La Rabida Children's Hospital
 

"Joyanna Silberg articulates cogently her strength-based approach to treating severely traumatized dissociative children and adolescents. Through the use of illuminating case descriptions and clear theoretical explanations, clinicians of all levels of expertise will learn from reading this book. Readers will feel inspired and empowered to help young clients as well as a deepened sense of respect for the resourceful adaptations that children and teens make to survive attachment difficulties and trauma."
Bethany Brand, PhD, professor of psychology at Towson University
 

"I cannot say enough good things about Dr. Silberg's book which I’ve just dug into and keep wanting to go back to when I get reading time. It is SO well written—I’ve been trying to find words to describe it . . . Her writing is so clear and there is a beauty or poetry or something in the way the words read. But this quality does not compromise the depth and the complexity of the ideas she is writing about. It’s one of those rare books in which clinicians will walk away with new things to think about and new things to DO as well. Bravo Dr. Silberg! This book will become a classic."
Jan Freeman, MSW, LCSW-C, founder and chair of the DC Metro Area Trauma Forum and faculty in the ISSTD Psychotherapy Training Program

 

"Readers may feel inspired and empowered to help young people as well as gaining a more meaningful sense of respect for the resilience that children and teens develop through experiences of trauma."​

Simply Fostering, HubPages.com