the story of Liam... insight
We began Liam on an Attachment Therapy programme whereby the staff work through a 7 phase programme.
The 1st phase is to deal with the anger in a controlled way. A barrier to positive relationships is anger (Verrier 2000).
The next phase 2 is the trust element. Without trust we would not be able to deal with the trauma.
Phase 3 is body and sensory awareness. In Liam’s case, having been sexually abused, his self image was very distorted and he was unable to trust the emotions that most of us are able to rely on uncon- sciously on a daily basis.
Phase 4 is nurturing. Nurturing is usually the basic care that is given to an infant. Positive emotional feeding and negative emotional reduction. The use of rock- ing chairs in all the homes assists in this process.
When the child rocks it calms the Limbic centre of the brain and stimulates the areas of thought, affect, physical pain sensors, memory and needs all of which were under stimulated during the early infant period.
Phase 5 is the challenge which helps the child to achieve and make them aware of movement.
Phase 6 is attunement. In this phase we re-enact the intense moments of contact between the mother and child. The staff will use activities that bring eye contact, safe physical contact, facial gestures, movements, posture and breathing. ‘In these transactions the attuned caregiver is ‘downloading programmes’ in the brain of the child. Schore (2003).
At these moments dopamine is released which helps with attachment and calms the child.
Face to face interaction begins at about two months, in the first context of social play. These are highly arousing; affect laden, short interpersonal events that expose infants to high levels of cognitive and social information. Schore (2003).
We cannot emotionally regulate until
we are emotionally regulated. When the child is touched or listens to a warm lov- ing voice opiods and oxytocin is released that assist with the emotional regulation.
Most of us enjoy being able to deal with disappointments and difficulties in life because we are able to self regulate our emotions and know that we will remain safe.
The therapy heals this factor so that the young people are able to leave with a self regulating system.
The final phase 7 is communication so that the child can emotionally communi- cate appropriately and enables them to communicate emotionally in life.
The trauma and ongoing therapy is dealt with by the senior therapist. These areas were identifying the triggers for negative behaviour and desensitising the traumatic memories, stabilising Liam’s emotions and working with his sense of time (often children who have been traumatised have little sense of time as the limbic part of the brain has been blocked by their survival coping mechanisms).
This work has led to new positive neuro pathways that Liam can now rely on rather than merely falling back into old patterns of negative pathways.
The aggression has now fallen in inten- sity dramatically so much so that he is in main stream education and is a counsel- lor and advocate for other children in school.
His spatial skills have improved and he now enjoys walking and physical activities, he is growing vegetables and preparing meals such as steamed trout, pasta dishes and shows no sign of problems whist enjoying his food.
His relationships and emotional com- munication has improved so much that he now has a girlfriend and is heard dealing with a difficult member of the family on the telephone in a much more mature and positive way. He is no longer re-active to pressure that in the past he has perceived.
24 THE AAMET MAGAZINE I AUTUMN 2010 I
www.aamet.org
Liam is due to move to a foster care placement. He is now able to enjoy healthy positive attach- ments that can only be beneficial and valuable in ensuring that his new placement will work. Liam is now much bet- ter equipped to enjoy life and we at Future In Mind wish him well.
INFORMATION
To find out more about Future In Mind & the
work that Future In Mind director, Geraldine Taylor and her team does, go to
www.future-in-mind.co.uk
Are you working with EFT in a unique way?
Or have you adapted it to a unique setting and are willing to share it with AAMET members, then please contact us
comms@aamet.org
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