Hurt Children

Hurt children are often misunderstood.

Some become angry. Some become withdrawn. Some become perfectionists, caretakers or people pleasers. Many appear mature beyond their years. Beneath these behaviors, however, are often attachment wounds, survival adaptations and unmet emotional needs.

In Hurt Children: The Journey of Healing and Secure Attachment, developmental and educational psychologist Diana-Lea Baranovich, PsyD, EdD draws upon decades of clinical work with children, families, schools and foster care systems to explore how attachment shapes emotional development, behavior, identity and healing.

Through accessible language, real-life examples and a relational lens, readers will learn about:

• Attachment and emotional development
• Trauma and the developing nervous system
• Survival strategies and behavioral adaptations
• Shame, grief and emotional regulation
• Parentification and emotional role reversal
• Discipline through an attachment lens
• Self-esteem, autonomy and resilience
• Play, creativity and healing
• Love, belonging and emotional safety

Written for parents, foster parents, teachers, counselors, therapists, social workers and caregivers, this book invites readers to look beneath behavior and understand the emotional stories children are trying to communicate.

Because underneath survival, there is always still a child asking:

Will someone see me?
Will someone stay?
Will someone help me feel safe?