Christina Reese

Puzzle Pieces Christina Reese

Dr. Reese, an attachment and trauma specialist, shares her journey to becoming an adoptive mother. Sharing stories to illustrate each chapter, you will laugh and cry as you join her on her adoption journey. The puzzle pieces of life may not make sense individually, but when put together they create a beautiful picture!Dr. Reese explains clinically what an adopted child experiences while on their adoption journey, interventions that families can use to strengthen bonding, and the reasons why those interventions are the most appropriate. Challenging behaviors and out of control emotions can result in children who have experienced trauma. She challenges us to think outside the box, to parent our adopted children in a different way. Children who have experienced trauma, and every child who has been adopted or in the foster care system has experienced attachment and other forms of trauma, have a difficult time seeing adults as safe people and developing relationships with them. Trauma changes the brain, impacting a child's ability to emotionally and self regulate. When a child is not connected in a safe and trusting relationship with an adult, that child will struggle to follow directions and be respectful, making parenting this child a challenge. Children who have experienced trauma do not purpose to be a challenge and they need parents who will stay with them through the hard work of learning to trust adults and feel safe in relationships. Learn to see the world through your child's eyes, their worldview impacted by trauma. Understand the world from their perspective and be able to connect with them by using relationship building skills that emphasize trust building and re-teaching. This is what our adopted children need from us and Dr. Reese helps us to find the way to connection. Explaining complex clinical concepts with ease and making them applicable to daily life, she shows us how to bring these concepts into our homes. Dr. Reese has been working with children and families for the last 20 years. She is the author of Attachment: 60 Trauma-Informed Assessment and Treatment Interventions Across the Lifespan. A TBRI Practitioner, she owns Felicity Counseling Services and provides therapy and parent consultation to adoptive families. Dr. Reese travels across the country, training therapists to work with children who have experienced trauma.