NCJ Number
201323
Date Published
2002
Length
146 pages
Annotation
This document is a training manual for mental health professionals working with missing children and their families.
Abstract
The goal of the Model Treatment Project is to increase knowledge of and develop effective treatment and services approaches for mental health professionals working with families of missing children in order to minimize the psychological consequences experienced by these child victims and their families. The manual is designed to provide mental health professionals with a guide to the assessment and treatment of psychological trauma associated with child abduction. The manual is intended to be used as a reference resource and guide for specialized knowledge and skills related to family abduction of children in order to provide effective therapeutic services to recovered children and their families. The first section reviews the legislative/governmental response to the problem; the history and scope of the missing child problem; and brief summaries of the findings in the Families of Missing Children Project and Reunification of Missing Children Project. The second section presents the ABCX Model of Family Adaptation to Stress, which assesses the impact of the abduction event upon child and family and assists in treatment planning. The third section examines the four stages of a Model Treatment Program: initial recovery, short-term trauma response pattern, long-term trauma response pattern, and termination/periodic re-contact for recovered children and their families. Section four provides four full length case histories that cover the pre-abduction, abduction, search and family adaptation, recovery/reunification, and initial and long-term adjustment periods of the child and family. The fifth section covers sample treatment techniques and therapist questions. Resource list, 30 references, 2 appendices