Book description
The Silent Child: Communication without Words describes a way of
understanding and communicating with children who are not speaking, but
rather using their bodies and somatic symptoms to express states of
mind. Jeanne Magagna has worked for 45 years trying to find ways of
helping these children, varying in age and symptoms. Using infant
observation methods of understanding primitive states of mind expressed
through gestures of eyes, hands, body posture, she has worked in
in-patient or out-patient settings with contributors: a group of
psychiatrists, psychologists, family and child psychotherapists,
physiotherapists, nurses, therapeutic care workers, teachers, parents'
groups and work discussion seminar members in out-patient and in-patient
settings. In their chapters, the professionals and a parent show how
they use their observation, empathy and countertransference experiences
to promote understanding in the silent child and his/her parents and
siblings. This book is particularly important for mental health
professionals, teachers and parents who are encountering 'a child
communicating without words'. It will assist them in being curious and
nurturing rather than paralysed by the experience of having to think
without the child's verbal response.
