Helping Babies and Children Aged 0-6 to Heal After Family Violence: A Practical Guide to Infant- and Child-Led Work

210 Pages·2017·1.719 MB·English

by  Wendy Bunston, Julie Stone

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‘An exceptional resource for practitioners
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Helping Babies and Children
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working at the front line of family violence n
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services. Strategic, particularly accessible Ba Aged 0–6
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– a powerful message of hope.’ e
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– Dr Richard Fletcher, Associate Professor, Family Action Centre, n
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University of Newcastle, Australia
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i Family Violence
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How can we really achieve infant-led therapy for the
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youngest victims of family violence? This simple g
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guide offers a fresh approach for social workers and d

counsellors on how to meet the emotional needs of babies 0 A Practical Guide to Infant- and Child-Led Work
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and young children who are experiencing trauma. Drawing on 6

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neurobiological research and her own extensive experience o

working directly in the field, Dr Bunston explains how to look H
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at family violence cases from the perspective of an infant or a
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small child, and provide therapy that champions attachment A
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and playfulness as a means towards recovery. Dr Bunston t
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recommends practical and empathic ways to work positively
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with all members of the family, including those who use m
violence, to help young children to remain safe and to heal. il
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Dr Wendy Bunston is an award-winning senior o
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clinician with over 25 years’ experience working n
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with children in recovery from family violence. e
She is based in Victoria, Australia.
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Jessica Kingsley Publishers y

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Dr Wendy Bunston
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ForeWorD By Dr Julie Stone
www.jkp.com
Cover design: Tango Media
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‘A long overdue and highly accessible contribution to the field of
family violence that addresses the previously neglected needs of
its youngest victims. Dr Wendy Bunston places at centre stage
the experience of infants and children, offering both a theoretical
underpinning of her approach and a hands-on repertoire of
therapeutic interventions that will prove invaluable to both early
career and seasoned clinicians alike.’
– Fiona True LCSW, Co-Director, Center for Children and Relational
Trauma, Ackerman Institute for the Family, New York, USA
‘Dr Bunston’s infant-led approach is an exceptional resource for
practitioners working at the front line of family violence services.
It provides a coherent, strategic set of principles with sufficient
detailed case study material to make sense of the complex and
multi-layered experience of interpersonal violence. The theoretical
material is written in a particularly accessible style but the real
punch comes in taking apart the examples of “adult-centric”
thinking. I repeatedly found myself reacting in surprise at how I
too could easily overlook the experience of the infant in trying to
understand the actions of fathers in troubled families. The book
also reflects Wendy’s generous caring approach in that she offers
ways for the practitioner to be “looked after” while engaging the
family through infant-led work.’
– Dr Richard Fletcher, Associate Professor, Family
Action Centre, University of Newcastle, Australia
‘Providing extensive offerings of real-life clinical examples,
this book not only changes the way we think about infants, but
actively promotes a new way of practising. It’s not a manual, it’s a
philosophy of practice that has been long awaited in this field.’
– Angelique Jenny PhD, Wood’s Homes Research
Chair in Children’s Mental Health, Faculty of Social
Work, University of Calgary, Canada
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Helping Babies and Children
Aged 0–6
to Heal After
Family Violence
A Practical Guide to Infant- and Child-Led Work
Dr Wendy Bunston
FOREWORD BY DR JULIE STONE
Jessica Kingsley Publishers
London and Philadelphia
First published in 2017
by Jessica Kingsley Publishers
73 Collier Street
London N1 9BE, UK
and
400 Market Street, Suite 400
Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
www.jkp.com
Copyright © Dr Wendy Bunston 2017
Foreword copyright © Dr Julie Stone 2017
Front cover image source: Ruth and Al at the Cottage.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form
(including photocopying, storing in any medium by electronic means or transmitting)
without the written permission of the copyright owner except in accordance with the
provisions of the law or under terms of a licence issued in the UK by the Copyright
Licensing Agency Ltd. www.cla.co.uk or in overseas territories by the relevant
reproduction rights organisation, for details see www.ifrro.org. Applications for the
copyright owner’s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be
addressed to the publisher.
Warning: The doing of an unauthorised act in relation to a copyright work may result in
both a civil claim for damages and criminal prosecution.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Bunston, Wendy, author.
Title: Helping babies and children aged 0-6 to heal after family violence : a
practical guide to infant- and child-led work / Dr. Wendy Bunston.
Description: London ; Philadelphia : Jessica Kingsley Publishers, [2017] |
Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016056016 | ISBN 9781849056441 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Victims of family violence--Services for. | Child welfare. |
Child psychotherapy. | Social work with children.
Classification: LCC HV6626 .B86 2017 | DDC 362.82/923--dc23 LC record available at
https://lccn.loc.gov/2016056016
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 84905 644 1
eISBN 978 1 78450 138 9
This book is dedicated to my greatest teachers: the
infants, children and young people who have taught
me how to follow their lead. And to my first teachers,
my parents Sally and Ocky, my aunties Gwinny and
Judy, and my constant companion in life, Ruth.

Contents
Foreword by Dr Julie Stone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1. Not ‘Throwing the Baby Out with the Bathwater’ . . . . 15
2. Early Brain Development and the Emerging Self . . . . . 34
3. Developing Models of Thinking and Practice . . . . . . . 56
4. Making Meaning in the Context of Family Violence . . . 83
5. Infant-Led Practice Before and Across the First
Three Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
6. Child-Led Practice and the Significance of Playfulness
in Childhood and Beyond. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
7. Infants and Children as the Entry Points for Change . . 148
8. Beginning at the Beginning in Our Approach to
Addressing Family Violence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Appendix One: Tips for Working with Infants
(Bunston 2011) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Appendix Two: Recommended (and Rated)
Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Appendix Three: Group Work Interventions for
Families Impacted by Family Violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Appendix Four: Therapeutic Newsletters . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Subject Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Author Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204