Internalized other Interviewing of Children Exposed to Violence

Abstract

This paper outlines a treatment approach for children and families exposed to violence that aims at decreasing traumatic stress symptoms in children and increasing emotional regulation. Using an Internalized Other Interview within a narrative framework, the child and therapist engage in a reconstructive process to heal the narrative disruption brought about by violence and trauma. It involves a reprocessing of traumatic material and a reworking of damaged attachments between parent and child. The author draws on concepts derived from relational psychodynamic theory and narrative therapy.