UBC Press New Families, Old Scripts book Paperback 256 pages

Most adopted children and their families will, sooner or later, encounter the challenges of dealing with unresolved attachment issues or early traumatic experiences.New Families, Old Scripts is an accessible introduction to understanding these challenges and helping children and their families to develop a shared language and understanding of one another. Steeped in the experience of the authors, the book offers a wealth of practical guidance and intervention in a no-nonsense style that will be readily understandable to both families and the professionals who work with them. Case examples bring the issues to life, while sample letters addressed to the parent offer sensitive, jargon-free advice on the issues they are likely to encounter - whether it be dealing with anger and aggression, understanding sibling issues or how to react to sexualised behaviour. The authors also explain some of the theoretical background to trauma to encourage a better understanding of the relationship between trauma, attachment and development.The accessible combination of theoretical approaches and practical advice makes New Families, Old Scripts an ideal resource for social workers and adoptive or foster parents.Family Futures Consortium provides services for parents and professionals working with adopted and fostered children, including training and consultation for statutory and voluntary agencies nationwide. In their therapeutic work with families, they have evolved a unique intensive, multi-disciplinary approach to supporting children with attachment and trauma-related difficulties.

Caroline Archer is an adoptive parent, consultant in adoption support and a parent mentor, both independently and as part of an attachment-based therapeutic team. She is the author of two best-selling adoption-related books, First Steps in Parenting the Child Who Hurts and Next Steps in Parenting the Child Who Hurts, published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Christine Gordon is an adoptive parent with many years' experience of working with adoptive and foster families. She is co-founder and co-director of Family Futures Consortium, London. Alongside her `hands on' supportive role to parents, she, too, is active in training and promoting the professional role of parent mentor as an integral part of the therapeutic team. She contributed chapters to Trauma, Attachment and Family Permanence, a work exploring Family Futures' pioneering therapeutic approach to supporting troubled adoptive and foster families (co-edited by Caroline Archer and published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers).