Trauma-Proofing Your Kids: A Parents' Guide for Instilling Confidence, Joy, and Resilience by Peter Levine

Understand the different types of upsets and traumas your child may experience--and learn how to teach them how to be resilient, confident, and even joyful

 

The number of anxious, depressed, hyperactive and withdrawn children is staggering--and still growing! Millions have experienced bullying, violence (real or in the media), abuse or sexual molestation. Many other kids have been traumatized from more "ordinary" ordeals such as terrifying medical procedures, accidents, loss and divorce. Trauma-Proofing Your Kids sends a lifeline to parents who wonder how they can help their worried and troubled children now. It offers simple but powerful tools to keep children safe from danger and to help them "bounce back" after feeling scared and overwhelmed. No longer will kids have to be passive prey to predators or the innocent victims of life's circumstances.

 

In addition to arming parents with priceless protective strategies, best-selling authors Dr. Peter A. Levine and Maggie Kline offer an antidote to trauma and a recipe for creating resilient kids no matter what misfortune has besieged them. Trauma-Proofing Your Kids is a treasure trove of simple-to-follow "stress-busting," boundary-setting, sensory/motor-awareness activities that counteract trauma's effect on a child's body, mind and spirit. Including a chapter on how to navigate the inevitable difficulties that arise during the various ages and stages of development, this ground-breaking book simplifies an often mystifying and complex subject, empowering parents to raise truly confident and joyful kids despite stressful and turbulent times.

"Peter Levine and Maggie Kline have done an outstanding job of helping parents, and everyone else, to understand the different kinds of trauma children may face. I have done a lot of work in therapy around my own traumatic childhood event and was able to try out many of the easy-to-follow exercises they provide. I truly felt a relief and peacefulness that I had never felt before. I treasure this book and hope you will too."
--Violet Oaklander, PhD, author of Windows to Our Children and Hidden Treasure: A Map to the Child's Inner Self

"If you've ever wondered how to help children navigate the rough and tumble vicissitudes of life, this book is a godsend."
--Sandra Blakeslee, co-author of The Body Has a Mind of Its Own

"This book is a must for every parent, teacher, coach and scout leader. It helps us to understand the stages of childhood development and supports parents in dealing with each stage more appropriately and sensitively. It is a pioneering work, a pioneering insight and a pioneering triumph. It is visionary common sense, pure and simple."
--From the foreword by Mira Rothenberg

"Trauma-Proofing Your Kids is an important tool to help parents and all adults deal with children that have experienced trauma. Understanding that trauma is a part of life should signal all of us to prepare ourselves for the inevitable."
--Ron Scruggs, athletic coach, parent and grandparent

Peter A. Levine, PhD, is the developer of "Somatic Experiencing" and founder of the Foundation for Human Enrichment. A NASA consultant, he lives in Encinitas, CA.

Maggie Kline, MFT, has more than 30 years of experience as a teacher, family and child therapist, school psychologist, and parent. She lives in Long Beach, CA.

North Atlantic Books

Pub Date: March 4, 2008

0.7" H x 9.02" L x 6.0" W

248 pages

Paperback