Bruce Perry Blog

              While reading Bruce Perry's accounts of his work with Sandy and other children that he encountered at a residential treatment facility, I was struck by how much he pays attention to the physicality of the brain and how trauma literally molds the brain into a completely new structure if the trauma is out of the control of the child.   This fact is not something that I am unfamiliar with as I have encountered similar thinking when working with adults as a clinician. Many clients I have encountered through my work as a student have experienced trauma, especially during the earliest years of their lives.   I find this difficult to swallow because many of these people are still dealing with the aftermath of traumas that happened 5, 10, 20 or even 40+ years ago.                 I appreciated that Bruce Perry is willing to think outside of the box and consider medication that would treat the physical affects of hyperarousal due to stress with the medication, Clonidine.

Chapter 1 of Perry's book tells the story of his first child client, Tina, who endured sexual abuse during crucial developmental years, resulting in delayed development and trauma responses.   When reading this chapter, there are a few instances where I find that I relate to Perry's experiences.   First, I find it puzzling that the new therapists, the ones who are in training, are the clinicians that are working with arguably the most vulnerable clients.   When looking at Tina's case, Perry was new to providing therapy to children in general, and he was given a case in which there were multiple systemic vulnerabilities at play.   Specifically, Tina and her family presumably (as I only know the information given in the book, these factors are being assumed) encountered stressors such as socioeconomic status, racism, sexism, sexual abuse, potentially domestic violence and more.   I empathize with Perry as carrying the weight of a client this vulnerable as a new clinician fe