Trauma and the Avoidant Client: Attachment-Based Strategies for Healing

by Robert T. Muller

Overview

Winner, 2011 Written Media Award, International Society for Study of Trauma & Dissociation.

How to effectively engage traumatized clients, who avoid attachment, closeness, and painful feelings.

A large segment of the therapy population consist of those who are in denial or retreat from their traumatic experiences. Here, drawing on attachment-based research, the author provides clinical techniques, specific intervention strategies, and practical advice for successfully addressing the often intractable issues of trauma.

Trauma and the Avoidant Client will enhance the skills of all mental health practitioners and trauma workers, and will serve as a valuable, useful resource to facilitate change and progress in psychotherapy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393705737
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	07/19/2010
Series:	Norton Professional Books (Hardcover)
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Robert T. Muller, Ph.D. is author of the award-winning psychotherapy bestseller, Trauma & the Avoidant Client, as well as numerous articles on trauma, attachment, and psychotherapy. Professor of Clinical Psychology at York University, & Fellow of the International Society for the Study of Trauma & Dissociation, Dr. Muller is lead investigator on several multi-site programs to treat interpersonal trauma. An international speaker, with over 30 years in the field, he practices in downtown Toronto.

Editorial Reviews

"I very much enjoyed reading this book, and it is rare to find one so practical, focused, and well researched. Avoidance is a common and notoriously difficult to treat sequelae of trauma, but taking on the challenge, Muller helps readers recognize and use the therapeutic relationship as the key to reaching these clients effectively. Constructed thoughtfully and insightfully around relevant research, his use of case examples, dialogue of key therapy moments, and point summaries all make it an eminently accessible and practical book."

Clare Pain

"Trauma and the Avoidant Client is just right. It hits the ground running. The eight chapters are well-written, helpful and relevant and each finishes with a great summary of the main therapeutic points. While obviously strongly embedded in attachment theory and backed up with Professor Rob Muller’s research, it is not a tedious theoretical read, and is written by someone with a good deal of clinical skill and knowledge. This is a book for therapists. . . . A very good buy."

New Zealand College of Clinical Psychology Journal

"[A] practical, useful and empirically based guide....[I]nsightful and relevant to all age groups....[E]asy to read and I would definitely recommend it....[H]ighly practical and insightful."

Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work

"This text is invaluable to a range of healthcare practitioners seeking to understand more deeply how people respond when faced with the challenging prospect of focusing on their vulnerabilities and I would consider this high-recommended reading for those training to become counsellors and psychotherapists."

Healthcare Counselling and Psychotherapy Journal (UK)

"Clinically perceptive, theoretically clear, and research-informed, this book is filled with clinical gems."

Leslie S. Greenberg

"In this sensitive yet intellectually robust volume Muller shows, in the face of loss and trauma, how self-defeating and health-endangering avoidant strategies can be....A major, highly accessible contribution to the attachment literature and required reading for all mental health clinicians."

Jeremy Holmes MD

"Clinical experience blends with research and theory to provide a fine survey of defensive patterns and how they can be changed."

Midwest Book Review