Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-x24gv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-04T08:34:36.135Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Connection Before Correction: Supporting Parents to Meet the Challenges of Parenting Children who have been Traumatised within their Early Parenting Environments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 May 2015

Kim S. Golding
Kim S. Golding*
Affiliation:
Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust
*
address for correspondence: Kim S. Golding E-mail: kimsgolding@btinternet.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper is based on a presentation I gave to the Childhood Trauma Conference in Melbourne, Australia, August 2014.

Children traumatised within their biological families are described as children who have experienced complex trauma, also called developmental trauma because of the profound impact it has on their development. These children present a range of challenging behaviours within their foster or adoptive families. They respond less well to traditional behavioural management and benefit more from regulatory and relationship-based parenting. This is parenting that focuses on helping the children to regulate their emotional experience through the emotional connection between parent and child before attention is given to the behaviour. Developmentally traumatised children have a foundation of mistrust of parents and thus experience management of behaviour as signs that they are going to be hurt or rejected again. These children need parents who can connect with the child's experience before, or when appropriate instead of, discipline. This is described here as ‘connection before correction’. Correction in this context means helping children to develop pro-social behaviours and to find safe ways to express intense emotional experience. This paper explores the difficulties that the children can experience living in families; how this is expressed through behaviours, and how parents can connect in ways that promote the building of trust and allows successful management of their behaviour.

Keywords

attachmentdevelopmental traumarelationshipconnectionbehavioural management
Type
Articles
Information
Children Australia , Volume 40 , Special Issue 2: CONSILIENCE IN ACTION - LESSONS FROM AN INTERNATIONAL CHILDHOOD TRAUMA CONFERENCE , June 2015 , pp. 152 - 159
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss. Vol. II Separation, anxiety and anger. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1980). Attachment and loss. Vol. III Loss: Sadness and depression. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss. Vol. 1 Attachment (2nd ed.). London: Hogarth Press.Google Scholar
Dozier, M., Knights, M., & Peloso, E. (2006). Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up: An intervention for foster parents. In Golding, K. S. (Ed.), Briefing paper: Attachment theory into practice. The Faculty for Children & Young People of the Division of Clinical Psychology, The British Psychological Society, Leicester.Google Scholar
Erikson, E. H. (Ed.). (1963). Youth: Change and challenge. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Fonagy, P., Gergely, G., Jurist, E. J., & Target, M. (2002). Affect regulation, mentalization, and the development of the self. New York: Other Press.Google Scholar
Golding, K. S. (2008). Nurturing attachments: Supporting children who are fostered or adopted. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.Google Scholar
Golding, K. S. (2013). Nurturing attachments training resource: Running parenting groups for adoptive parents and foster or kinship carers. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.Google Scholar
Golding, K., & Hughes, D. (2012). Creating loving attachments: Parenting with PACE to nurture confidence and security in the troubled child. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.Google Scholar
Hughes, D. H. (2009). Attachment focused parenting: Effective strategies to care for children. New York: W.W. Norton.Google Scholar
Hughes, D. (2011). Attachment-focused family therapy workbook. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
Nouwen, H. J. M., McNeill, D., & Morrison, D. (2008). Compassion: A reflection on the Christian life. London: Darton, Longman & Todd.Google Scholar
Porges, S. (2011). The polyvagal theory: Neurophysiological foundations of emotions, attachment, communication, self-regulation. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
Schore, A. N. (1994). Affect regulation and the origin of self: The neurobiology of emotional development. Mahwah, New Jersey: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Trevarthen, C. (2001). Intrinsic motives for companionship in understanding: Their origin, development, and significance for infant mental health. Infant Mental Health Journal, 22, 95–131.3.0.CO;2-6>CrossRefGoogle Scholar