Building a Home Within
Meeting the Emotional Needs of Children and Youth in Foster Care
Edited by Toni Vaughn Heineman, D.M.H., & Diane Ehrensaft, Ph.D.

"The children’s stories are compelling; the therapists’ generosity inspiring." —David Ramirez, Ph.D., Swarthmore College "The CPP is an excellent program, which deserves to be better known throughout the country within both the social services and mental health communities." —Dan Hughes, Ph.D., psychologist and author of Building the Bonds of Attachment

All children need stable, lasting relationships with caring adults to ensure their healthy emotional, cognitive, and social development. But for children and adolescents in foster care, these essential relationships are often absent. This book presents a proven solution based on over 10 years of groundbreaking work by the Children’s Psychotherapy Project (CPP): When young people work with the same therapist for as long as they need to, they’ll make better progress toward developing strong, healthy relationships and hope for the future.  More than a dozen experts from the CPP give psychologists, social workers, counselors, and program administrators a complete, research-supported introduction to this successful "one child, one therapist, for as long as it takes" model as they share their triumphs and challenges. Through the lessons these therapists learned as they donated their time to weekly psychotherapy sessions, readers will gain new insight on how to build positive relationships with children. They’ll learn how to address various aspects of foster care, including

• the neuropsychological effects of foster care on children
  
  
• the specific challenges of preschool children in foster care
  
  
• kinship care
  
  
• reunification with parents
  
  
• foster children and the educational system
  
  
• collaboration between public and private forces
  
  
• the transition out of foster care at age 18

Acknowledgments
More About A Home Within

I. Introduction

1. The Children's Psychotherapy Project: One Child. One Therapist. For as Long as it Takes
   Toni Vaughn Heineman
   
   

II. Holding the Child, Knowing the System: Theories for Bridging Internal and External Worlds

2. Walking Through Walls: The Mind of a Foster Child
   Peter G.M. Carnochan
   
   
3. In Search of the Fuzzy Green Pillow: Fragmented Selves, Fragmented Institutions
   Rebecca B. Weston
   
   
4. Seeing and Thinking: Bringing Theory to Practice
   Julie Stone
   

5. Doctor Forever: Acute Loss in the Context of Chronic Loss
   Norman Zukowsky
   
   
6. Beyond the 50-Minute Hour: A Continuum of Care for a Foster Child
   Martha P. Harris
   
   
7. Falling Through the Cracks: The Complications of Reunification for an Adolescent in Foster Care
   Christopher Bonovitz
   
   
8. Sunset in December: Working with Young Adults in Foster Care
   Isabelle Reiniger
   
   
9. Many Parents, One Child: Working with the Family Matrix
   Diane Ehrensaft
   
   
10. Beyond the Comfortable Edge: The Experience of Being a Therapist for Foster Children
    Richard Ruth