Trust Building With Children Who Hurt: A One-To-One Support Program for Children Ages 5 to 14

Rating:
Summary: Trust Building with Children Who Hurt
Review: Ruth Arent, a social worker, meets us in the middle of our world. As violence increases in our schools and among our children, she gives every teacher, school counselor, parent, and professional caregiver 7 easy steps to touch the hurting child. This workbook is an easy to read document that is rich with great observations concerning children who are hurting. Additionally, the author provides a dynamic definition of trust, "trust denotes unconditional acceptance." Even though this book is written especially for teachers, I highly suggest it as a valuable resource to any parent or person that works with or has contact with hurting children. Ruth's one page conparison of 'hurt versus hate' is worth the price of the book. The main focus of the workbook is to "build or reinforce strengths and wellness, and provide the confidence needed for the child to let go of symptoms and learn new ways to cope, learn, and relate to others." The author provides a solid "Indicators of Wellness" list and another list titled, "Indicators of Neediness". Again, these indicators are great information opportunities worth the price of the book. Ruth Arent believes the 7 steps, when applied, can convince the hurting child that an adult can be trusted, can help a child become more self-accepting, and grants the opportunity for the child to practice self-management and trustworthiness. I strongly agree with her. I presented this workbook to adults involved in the mentoring process in public schools. Their response was overwhelming with gratitude. It is a vital resource for anyone who works with children who hurt. It will even give parents with teenagers an insight to determine if their teen is hurting or hating. I encourage you to purchase this book before you reject personal responsibility and accept the myth that nothing can be done to reach our hurting children. Their future is worth the investment.