Deborah D. Gray is a clinical social worker specialising in attachment, grief and trauma. She is a leading figure in her field, and a sought-after presenter and trainer. She runs a private practice, Nurturing Attachments, in Kirkland, Washington, USA and has spent over 15,000 hours in the last 15 years counselling children who were adopted. Her private practice philosophy is one of empowering parents with information and techniques they can use to meet the needs of their children and develop close, satisfying relationships. She teaches in the Cascadia Resources/Northwest Adoption Resource and Portland State post-Graduate Programs in Adoption Counselling and the University of Washington's Post-Graduate Trauma Certificate program. In her personal life, Deborah D. Gray feels linked to adoption through the family in which she grew up and has also been a therapeutic foster. In 2015 Deborah was awarded with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the international ATTACh conference for her contribution to the field of attachment. To find out more about Deborah, visit her website at www.deborahdgray.com.
Acknowledgements. Introduction. Chapter 1: Bonds, Attachment and Play. Chapter 2: The Value of Play. Chapter 3: Connecting the Two of You. Chapter 4: Connecting the Whole Family. Chapter 5: Connecting Siblings. Chapter 6: Activities to Help with Mood and Flexibility. Chapter 7: Building Attachment When Children Have Had Exposure to Toxins. Addendum. Resources.
: 'Finally a book to engage children in building attachments with their parents through playing games. This book is practical and offers fun activities to encourage closer relationships between parents and children.'- Dr. Sue Cornbluth, National Parenting Expert in Childhood Trauma, USA'When children are exposed to poor care very early in life, they have to suppress two very important processes that normally help children to feel safe with and enjoy their relationships with caregivers: separation distress which engenders the need for comfort and playfulness which leads to joyful connection. In this book, the author focuses on the playfulness side of parent-child connections, offering a wealth of practical, hands-on ways for caregivers to engage children in playful interactions. Parents and therapists who work with children exposed to poor care early in life will find this book extremely helpful.'- Jonathan Baylin, PhD, psychologist and coauthor of Brain Based Parenting
