Neurocognitive considerations in the treatment of attachment and complex trauma in children
Date
2014
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Clinical child psychology and psychiatry
Abstract
Accumulating evidence suggests that children suffering deprivation and maltreatment at critical
times in their development often pay a cognitive toll. While children vary to the extent that
neurocognitive domains are affected, those factors influence how children process, manage and
understand traumatic and attachment experiences as well as how they respond to treatment.
Current research on trauma and attachment favor some aspects of cognition over others. The
literature discusses attention, memory, cognitive biases, internal working models, beliefs and
attributions as ways that impact an individual’s understanding of experience. Other categories
such as working memory, processing speed, verbal, auditory or perceptual processing,
metacognitive skills, and cognitive rigidity or flexibility rarely surface. This paper examines
what is and is not known about the interface of cognition with attachment and complex trauma
and how that knowledge can inform treatment. It explores existing research and offers a case
vignette as an example of how that knowledge can be integrated into treatment strategies.
Description
item.page.type
Article
item.page.format
Keywords
attachment, complex trauma, psychotherapy, learning disabilities, neurocognition
Citation
Zilberstein, K. (2014). Neurocognitive considerations in the treatment of attachment and complex trauma in children. Clinical child psychology and psychiatry, 19(3), 336-354.