Product Description

A Child's Journey Through Placement

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1815360 in Books
• Published on: 1991-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 432 pages

Customer Reviews

The BEST for ANY family having a child w/ attachment issues.
This book MUST be required reading for ALL adoptive families for insuring they have true insight on parenting their child responsivly. Being a mother desperately looking for the "why" my adopted child behaves as he does and "why" four years of traditional treatment hasn't mattered, I now have these answers and far greater insight as to what to do next. Dr. Fahlberg has provided the comprehensive guide for all who care about advocating children with all kinds of behavior and disorder issues. Dr. Fahlberg's "A Child's Journey Through Placement" is the Dr. Spock book for all adoptive parenting - outstanding material, information and very well written.

Arm Yourself With Knowledge!
This book is a must have for foster parents, adoptive parents, & professionals. Yes, some of it gets very tedious & dry, & the editing is horrendous; but...there is a lot of value here. Not only does the author give explanations, activities, & study based back-up, but she also walks you through her chapters with several case studies. This helps the reader to better apply the knowledge they are absorbing.

One reviewer mentioned their disgust for the author's mention of holding therapy. I have to agree with that reviewer, but keep in mind that this book was written in 1996...BEFORE holding therapy had gotten much attention & caused a public outcry.

This book is both interesting & informative, & I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in special needs children..

Disappointing
Although this book is recommended by many as a standard work in the field, I personally found it unreliable and uneven.

Fahlberg focuses on attachment to the exclusion of all other special needs and developmental tasks, and recommends techniques (such as "holding therapy") which many experts on attachment have criticized as harmful and even abusive. I found her account of separation issues to be much less sensitive and thoughtful than that of Claudia Jewett ("Helping Children Cope with Separation and Loss"), for example.

There is almost no reference to organic mental or physical disabilities, except for outdated references to "schizophrenic children" dating from the 1960s.

There is useful advice in it, but it doesn't extend far beyond common sense and is undermined by inaccuracies and omissions.