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Therapist’s story:

Jeffrey and Jimmie, 9 and 11, are two brothers I work with who were referred through Child Protective Services.  Both have experienced much trauma, including domestic violence, neglect, and possible sexual abuse in their home, possibly by family members.

Both have developmental delays and/or learning challenges. Jeffrey and Jimmie were removed from their biological mother’s home and placed in foster care.  The foster parents were having extreme behavioral and boundary issues with the children, who were urinating on the floor, smearing feces on walls of the home as well as verbally attacking their foster mother.

After working with the boys to help them process their feelings and understand that it was OK to love their parents and still respect and value foster parents, their behaviors greatly improved.

I also worked with each boy on how to be successful, and to understand what was preventing them from being successful.  We were able to identify many of the issues that got in the way of their desired positive behavior, and within a few sessions, many of the issues were eliminated or showed significant improvement.

I continue to work with the boys, using Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy and other models to process past trauma.