Chris Taylor's book sets out to provide a comprehensive model for working with troubled children with attachment difficulties. He approaches it firmly from an Attachment Theory standpoint, which he develops using Humanistic concepts in particular but others as well. This book adds to a body of literature from a range of theoretical models on residential work with such children, and Taylor's extensive experience in this field is apparent in its content.
The book reads somewhat as a textbook, with extensive learning objectives set out at the beginning of each chapter. The chapters cover Attachment Theory to begin with, followed by its application to the residential environment, relationships, and then a number of chapters based around working with specific difficulties presented by the children. Theory is interspersed with practical ideas about how to implement these theories in both a planned and a day-to-day way. Residential workers, particularly those new to the work, are likely to find these ideas an extremely helpful resource. While the ideas are practical, they never get too concrete and behavioural, and they remain rooted in the theories that Taylor is exposing.
Taylor's powerfully empathic stance towards the children that he describes and his firm insistence that maintaining such a stance is a crucial task of anyone working with these children is a vivid and important message in this book. He reminds readers that holding onto such an attitude when faced with aggression and disorganisation can be a difficult and daunting task. As a Psychodynamic Psychotherapist myself working in this field, I would have welcomed more emphasis on this aspect of workers’ experience and professional development. However, Taylor does address it and directs readers towards the need for self-awareness and support.
The theoretical chapters are very densely packed, which can make them hard to follow, and the fact that concepts are then explained again several times throughout the book can feel a bit repetitive. Furthermore, the lengthy learning objectives may be somewhat ambitious for each chapter, although as part of a training programme in which Attachment Theory is studied and applied to practice, they may be more realistic.
I was surprised to notice that a number of concepts were referred to but not referenced. For example, the section on ‘projective identification’ made no reference to Melanie Klein, nor was she listed in the Bibliography, and Bion was not referenced in relation to ‘Containment’, though he was present in the Bibliography. Similarly, the sections about brain development and neuroscience offered no references, making it harder for the reader to be easily signposted towards further reading. However, the extensive bibliography does offer a wide range of interesting further reading suggestions.
In spite of these criticisms, I think this book offers many invaluable practical ideas for residential workers who may find it useful to return to it for its hands-on ideas as they are faced with troubling situations with the children in their care.
