The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist's Notebook Child Psychiatrist's Notebook--What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us About Loss, Love, and Healing

"The Boy Who Was Raised As a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist's Notebook: What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us About Loss, Love and Healing The book is highly readable consisting of some of the more interesting and challenging cases that Bruce Perry has encountered. Perry is a remarkable child psychiatrist. I wish there was some way to clone him and make him available in every community around this country. The next best thing is that we can all learn from him, not only from this truly remarkable book but from his Child Trauma Academy website: [...] which includes many of his papers and offers on-line courses for the serious student of his work. He has established himself as one of the leading authorities on the neurobiology of child trauma, especially known for his study of children who have been abused and neglected. But even these impressive credentials do not do him justice. You can't help but be deeply moved when reading his book written with an award winning journalist (Szalavitz). His compassion, empathy, and dedication to his child and family patients reminds me of some of the wonderful psychiatrists I have met along the way in the days when insurances companies were still willing to pay psychiatrists for time to listen to and talk to their young patients and not just the minimum possible time it takes to decide on a prescription. In fact, the need to listen to children and their families is a reoccurring theme throughout this book and the harm that can result when the time is not taken to carefully, listen, and appreciate the whole picture is also noted. I nearly was moved to tears of joy when I came to this paragraph: "Of course, medications can help relieve symptoms and talking to a therapist can be incredibly useful. But healing and recovery are impossible--even with the best medications and therapy in the world--without lasting, caring connections to others. Indeed, at heart it is the relationship with the therapist, not primarily his or her methods or words of wisdom that allows therapy to work" (p.232). Perry also observes, "The most traumatic aspects of all disasters involve the shattering of human connections. And this is especially true of children" (231). I found Perry's message to resonate with my own clinical experiences and convictions again and again and can't remember anything I read that ran counter to my clinical experience or philosophy. I was especially thrilled to see him take up the baton regarding an issue that is dear to my heart because the late Walter Bonime, M.D., a psychoanalyst that I studied with for over a decade in New York City, wrote about this extensively. Perry, like Bonime, before him sees one extremely unhealthy feature of contemporary Western culture to be the hyper-competitiveness that drives parents to load kids up with such extensive academic, sports, and activity schedules that parents have little time to talk to their children, hug their children, and the children have little time to engage in free play with children in the neighborhood. As a result children are often deficient in essential social skills because they get few opportunities to enjoy playing with other children, resolving conflicts or negotiating compromises. I could go on for pages about the things I loved about the book but some things are better left for you to read. I am sure you will not be disappointed.


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~ Written on 2008-06-10

"Bruce Perry, author of The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog, is truly an emotionally intelligent man! In his book he shows the depth of his empathy and invaluable connection with traumatised children.

Perry combines his knowledge of how the brain works with an intrinsic heart felt warmth. When finding which link was not connected in the brain of a very young traumatised baby/child, he draws on the strengths of genuine community love to nutritiously feed the heart, brain and soul of that child.

His holistic approach is a refreshing change from stories of medical intervention which address the physical need of the body only.
Parenting for a Peaceful World"
~ Written on 2008-06-02

"Assisted by a talented science writer, child psychiatrist Bruce Perry presents a series of heartbreaking stories of children severely damaged by trauma. But that's only one side of this remarkable book. The other side is how many of these profoundly damaged children were assisted to heal.

Perry explains his "neurosequential" approach that sequentially targets brain regions left undeveloped by abuse or neglect. He presents compelling cases to illustrate how the child's age at the time of the abuse or neglect will determine the gaps in neurological development and how his interventions sequentially target those developmental gaps. For children whose brains were stalled out in infancy, for example, therapy may start with healing touch or rhythm before moving on to higher brain activities.

The focus, always, is on the child's humanity. Perry explains the importance of listening and letting the child set the pace. He warns of the damage caused by well-intentioned but poorly trained therapists who push children to open up, or who administer punitive interventions in the guise of treatment. Healing is not about a specific technique administered in cookbook fashion but, rather, about love, and restoring shattered human connections.

This is an enlightening and heartening book and a real page-turner to boot. The neurological underpinnings of the trauma theory are presented in clear English accessible to anyone who can read. If you're a mental health professional, psychologist, or psychiatrist, you'll love this book. If you're a parent or a teacher, it's also for you. Whoever you are, it's for you. I guarantee you will be engaged and inspired."
~ Written on 2008-04-29

"I read this book in a day. For anyone involved in the social services, or even just interested in psychology--it is a must read that truly touches your heart and makes you appreciate the power of children even more. "
~ Written on 2008-04-25

"I work in the child abuse field and I also adopted a traumatized child. This book provides honest and practical information about working with and living with a child who has been traumatized. The author maintained a sense of humor and encourages this in anyone reading the book. Some of the stories were incredibly sad. Many were filled with terror and loss of hope. However, in almost every situation, he was able to find hope for the child where none had been before.
I have shared this book with others at my place of work. The overwhelming review has been the same from all. Well done, must read for anyone in the field or thinking of becoming a foster parent or adoptive parent for a severely traumatized child."
~ Written on 2008-03-27