A Trauma-Informed Approach to Childhood Maltreatment: Foundational Theory, Treatment, and Prevention of Complex PTSD and Moral Injury
Book Details
- Publisher : Routledge
- Published : December 2026
- Cover : Paperback
- Pages : 304
- Category :
Forthcoming - Category 2 :
Child and Adolescent Studies - Catalogue No : 98648
- ISBN 13 : 9781041015703
- ISBN 10 : 1041015704
Free UK Delivery over £35
There are currently no reviews
Be the first to review
Presenting case studies from across the lifespan, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of the causes and complications of complex trauma, as well as a framework for trauma-informed care. Complex trauma significantly impacts upon survivors’ sense of identity, emotional self-regulation and relationships.
The author presents four new theoretical underpinnings to address CPTSD’s disturbances in a child and non-offending parents' identity, self-regulation, self-compassion, and posttraumatic cognitions. Case studies and trauma survivor testimonies are introduced at the beginning of each chapter and interwoven throughout the theory and research. The chapter narratives support the reader with decision points and reflections to embed learning by practically linking theories, concepts, and practices to real-world examples to embody learning outcomes. Collectively the chapters build a relational model of trauma-informed care grounded in interdisciplinary collaboration across education, psychology, law, policy, medicine, and trauma-informed ethics.
A much-needed contribution to the knowledge and treatment of complex PTSD, this is an essential resource for professionals and educators working in childhood trauma and mental health.
Reviews and Endorsements
'Dr Cher is before her time. Her experience, intelligence, training, foresight and instinctive responses to issues facing children is reflected in these pages. It is a must read for anyone, in any role, professional or otherwise, who wants, or needs, to understand these issues clearly and accurately. It is a magnetic read, once you start, you can’t stop. I am so proud to have made a small contribution to this exceptionally written book.'
Hetty Johnston, AM, GAICD, Co-Chair of the National Office of Child Safety Advisory Group
'The experience of guilt, shame, anger and contempt after encounters with human violence, abuse and cruelty is devastating – military veterans know this all too well. Cher McGillivray here brings the insights from moral injury (MI) into the context of parents of abused children, who are in obvious positions of moral responsibility and thus may experience the same devastating emotions. MI involves a breach in our sense of safety, but also cries out for justice in unjust situations and points to the need for systemic change. There are few studies and resources that address the full dimensionality of MI, and what is remarkable about this book it’s the way in which McGillivray does not simply stop at the experience of the child or parent as ‘patient,’ but situates the experience of MI within the systems in which it occurs and addresses the muti-faceted nature of violence and abuse without shrinking from the need to discuss institutional failures and accountability. Providing resources for necessary change, presenting scenarios in which we can envision different and more just systems and vital explorations of pathways back from the existential threat of self-blame, this is book is timely, necessary, and life-saving.'
Brian S. Powers, Executive Director, International Centre for Moral Injury
Table of Contents
Introduction
Cher McGillivray
Part I - Trauma
1. Childhood Maltreatment: Identifying, Responding, and Breaking the Cycle
Cher McGillivray
2. From Invisible to Visible: Intimate Partner Violence as Collective Responsibility
Gaelle Brotto
3. Operationalizing Diagnosis and Treatment Planning in Trauma-Informed Care
Cher McGillivray
Part II - Moral Injury
4. Moral Injury Theories in Child Maltreatment
Cher McGillivray
5. Post-traumatic Cognitions of Moral Injury as Predictors of PTSD
Cher McGillivray
6. Moral Injury within Helping Professionals and Clinicians Working with CSA
Susan Rowe
Part III - Trauma and the Brain, Body, and Self-Connection
7. The Brain, Window of Tolerance, and Structural Disassociation
Cher McGillivray, Kelly Humphries
Part IV - Trauma Assessment and Intervention
8. Integrating Trauma-Informed, Developmental, and Behavioral Approaches in Case Formulation for Young Children with Disruptive Behavior in the Context of Adverse Experiences
Shawna Campbell
9. Trauma Informed Assessment of Childhood Maltreatment
Cher McGillivray
10. Trauma Treatments
Cher McGillivray
11. EFT for Children
Peta Stapleton, Elise Stapleton
12. Accelerated Resolution Thearaoy (ART): An Emerging Trauma Therapy
Loretta Morgan
13. EMDR Therapy for Child Maltreatment and Adverse Childhood Experiences
Madeleine Graham
PART V Recovery Beyond Trauma
14. Developing Treatment to Promote Healing and Foster Posttraumatic Growth
Cher McGillivray
15. Trauma Recovery
Sharelle Smith
PART VI - Child maltreatment Prevention Recommendations
16. Envisioning Integration and Action: Embedding Trauma-Informed Responsiveness Across Systems
Kelly Humphries
17. From Silence to Influence: Lived Experience at the Heart of Child Sexual Abuse Responses
Carol Ronken
18. Understanding and Acknowledging the Difference between Disability and Trauma
Emma Gierschick Oam
19. Child Abuse, Parental Alienation, and Child-Friendly Justice: A Comparative Perspective
Cher McGillivray
20. Model Design for Policy and Safety: From Evidence to Architecture
Sian Daniel
21. Leading Change: How Organizations Can Truly Safeguard Vulnerable People
Hetty Johnston, Cher McGillivray
About the Author(s)
Cher McGillivray is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Bond University, Australia, registered Clinical Psychologist, and Director of Seed of Hope Psychology. Dedicated to trauma informed education to prevent childhood maltreatment and moral injury, she works to restore familial foundations and encourage cultural unity for children’s rights, strengthening policy, public health, and legal responses.
Customer Reviews
Our customers have not yet reviewed this title. Be the first add your own review for this title.
You may also like
Bluebird: The Place of Death and Fear of Dying in My Long, Good Life
Andrew Cooper
Price £15.99
save £4.00
Six Degrees of Separation and Connectedness: Searching for Meaning in Living...
Judit Szekacs-Weisz
Price £17.59
save £4.40
