Still Searching for the Best Interests of the Child: Trauma Treatment in Infancy and Early Childhood*

This article describes recent developments in theory and clinical practice with traumatized children in the birth to five age range. It revisits the treatment of an abused two-year-old girl and her mother from the perspective of the child's reappearance in the clinic twenty years later to ask about her past. The early treatment of the child and the mother is re-examined from the perspective of the advances in theory and practice about early childhood trauma in the intervening decades. These advances are contrasted with the persistent gap between the urgent needs of maltreated children and their families and the availability of services designed to support their mental health.

Dedication

To Al, with love and appreciation for his wisdom, humor, guidance, and friendship