Diagnostic Interview & Assessment
When addressing problem behaviors that occur as a result of an attachment trauma and/or chronic childhood trauma, it is important to devise an individualized treatment plan tailored to a families' specific needs and strengths. Because parents are the experts on their child, I involve parents in the treatment planning process, where we devise individual and family goals. In order to formulate a helpful treatment plan, we must establish a history of significant events, an understanding of the child's current functioning and challenges, and a mutual representation of how progress will be evaluated. To achieve this, I conduct a thorough diagnostic interview with family members and provide written assessments to be completed by both the parent and the child.
In the diagnostic interview, I place emphasis on early childhood experience and traumatic incidents. These could include incidents of physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and bonding breaks, as well as early childhood illness, accidents, surgeries, or experiences in the pre-natal environment. With this information, I attempt to understand the experience of the child prior to living in the adoptive home.
This interview is supplemented with a series of written assessments to be completed by both children and parents. These tools assess the child's developmental functioning, the severity of behavioral problems, the child’s ability to integrate sensory information, and the intrusiveness and dissociative effects of trauma. This assessment protocol is repeated approximately every three months to track progress throughout treatment. For a detailed description of assessments used, click here.
The detailed history acquired during the diagnostic interview, combined with the summarized scores of the written assessments, informs the diagnosis and treatment plan. I recognize that your child is an individual and that his needs are unique. Therefore, I have an eclectic repertoire of treatment modalities to draw upon in child and family sessions. Treatment plans often involve a combination of therapeutic parenting strategies, family focused interventions and trauma focused interventions. In addition, role-playing, storytelling, or artistic activities are often elements of sessions. My goal is to use the intervention that is best suited to your child’s developmental needs.