Book review…

The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog And Other Stories From A Child Psychiatrist’s Notebook – Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD and Maia Szalavitz

This excellent book was recommended by Sarah Lloyd at a training day she ran on Building Underdeveloped Sensorimotor Systems (see below). Structured around real life cases it packs lots of science and theory into something very readable – I honestly couldn’t put it down. Not only is there the story telling around the individual children and their families, but also the narrative thread of how Dr Perry developed his Neurosequential Approach to therapy for traumatised children – sometimes flying in the face of the medical status quo. This approach focuses on how the timing (i.e. the point in the child’s development) of the trauma has specific affects on the impacts later on, and therefore on the best approach to therapy for that child. Explanations of the impact of trauma on how the brain develops and works are clear and specifically applied as Dr Perry compares various cases. Alongside the very clearly explained research the author’s genuine compassion and concern for each individual and for their parents and carers shines through.