Jason Aronson, Inc.
Pages: 224
Trim: 6¼ x 9
978-0-7657-0522-8 • Hardback • January 2008 • $116.00 • (£89.00)
978-0-7657-0523-5 • Paperback • January 2008 • $66.00 • (£51.00)
Enrico Gnaulati, PhD, is a former faculty member in the Child and Family Studies Department at California State University, Los Angeles. Dr. Gnaulati maintains a private practice in Pasadena, California and is a frequent public speaker on child development and parenting issues.
Dr. Gnaulati presents us with a refreshing new look at ADHD, both in terms of its origins and its treatments. In this work we see an exciting and hopeful paradigm shift, from an emphasis imposed by psychopharmacology and neurocognitive science back to a psychotherapeutic approach, one that is tailored specificially for ADHD patients. The author takes the position that ADHD emerges from early affect disregulation, the consequences of which become registered in early brain development. The treatment the author proposes is play therapy, a therapy that is characterized by the active participation and engagement of the therapist. It is the play itself rather than the meaning of the play that is crucial in the treatment. I found Dr. Gnaulati's work exciting, highly credible, well documented and hopeful. I encourage all psychotherapists to familiarize themselves with his groundbreaking work.
— James Grotstein M.D., University of California at Los Angeles
—Illuminates complicated concepts and ideas with clear language and easy-to-follow logic that renders the book equally accessible to mental health professionals, researchers, educators and parents
—Articulates a novel approach to ADHD that expands and augments even as it challenges the usual neurocognitive and medicalized perspectives
—Presents coherent arguments for the etiology of ADHD symptoms, substantiated by infant research
—Offers a timely and much-needed approach to ADHD that justifies a remedial role for play therapy, not just the usual recommendations of medication and behavior management
—Outlines a participatory way of conducting play therapy with ADHD children that liberates the therapist's use of authentic self-expression and availability for active play experiences
—Grounds concepts and ideas through use of extensive case descriptions that will have practical appeal to those seeking to conduct play therapy with ADHD children