Treating Complex Trauma

In Treating Complex Trauma, renowned clinicians Mary Jo Barrett and Linda Stone Fish present the Collaborative Change Model (CCM), a clinically evaluated model that facilitates client and practitioner collaboration and provides invaluable tools for clients struggling with the impact and effects of complex trauma. A practical guide, Treating Complex Trauma organizes clinical theory, outcome research, and decades of experiential wisdom into a manageable blueprint for treatment. With an emphasis on relationships, the model helps clients move from survival mindstates to engaged mindstates, and as a sequential and organized model, the CCM can be used by helping professionals in a wide array of disciplines and settings. Utilization of the CCM in collaboration with clients and other trauma-informed practitioners helps prevent the re-traumatization of clients and the compassion fatigue of the practitioner so that they can work together to build a hopeful and meaningful vision of the future.

"This book (and the CCM) is a valuable resource for both clinicians who are new to the field and experienced practitioners. It uses client stories to enhance readers' understanding of the model, as well as periodically checking in with the reader to ensure that the concepts are well understood. I would highly recommend Treating Complex Trauma to practitioners looking for a streuctured approach to working with clients." - Bernadette Nugent, Grief Matters "Mary Jo Barrett and Linda Stone Fish provide lucid justification for their model, case examples that clearly illustrate the text, and ‘pause and ponder’ sections for the therapist reader. Especially helpful is the emphasis on the need to collaboratively work with the client to move him or her out of ‘survival mindstate’ into ‘engaged mindstate’ and the natural process of growth and change. This book is a very welcome addition that expands the growing literature on the treatment of complex trauma in children and adults."- Christine A. Courtois, PhD, ABPP, coauthor of Treatment of Complex Trauma: A Sequenced, Relationship-Based Approach and coeditor of Treating Complex Traumatic Stress Disorders: Scientific Foundations and Therapeutic Models"Barrett and Stone Fish have produced a practical masterpiece that will expand professionals’ abilities and capacities to work with complex trauma. They make the problem understandable, from the common biological responses to trauma to its social context. The Collaborative Change Model provides structure and guidance while staying true to the flexibility and nuance necessary for good treatment." - Susan H. McDaniel, PhD, Dr. Laurie Sands Distinguished Professor of Families and Health at the University of Rochester Medical Center"This invaluable practice guide, by leading experts in the field, distills the core principles and priorities in sequential stages of therapy in their highly effective collaborative model. It's a must read for beginning and experienced clinicians that shows that the treatment of complex trauma need not be complicated." - Froma Walsh, PhD, codirector of the Chicago Center for Family Health and Mose & Sylvia Firestone Professor Emerita at the the University of Chicago

Mary Jo Barrett, MSW, is the executive director and founder of the Center for Contextual Change. She is currently adjunct faculty at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, the Chicago Center for Family Health, and the Family Institute at Northwestern University. She has published numerous articles in the areas of family violence, compassion fatigue, child sexual abuse, and domestic violence. She has coauthored two books and numerous book chapters. Ms. Barrett has served as the director of Midwest Family Resource and has been working in the field of family violence since 1974.Linda Stone Fish, MSW, PhD, is the David B. Falk Endowed Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy at Syracuse University. She is the author of numerous research and theoretical articles and coauthor of Nurturing Queer Youth. Dr. Stone Fish has been training couple and family therapists for over 25 years and has been working with clients with a history of complex trauma for more than 30 years.