What happens when a young child is traumatized? How does terror affect a child's mind-and how can that mind recover?
Child psychiatrist Bruce Perry has treated children faced with unimaginable horror: homicide survivors, witnesses to their own parents' murders, children raised in closets and cages, the Branch Davidian children, and victims of extreme neglect and family violence.
In The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, Dr. Perry tells their stories of trauma and transformation. He explains what happens to the brain when children are exposed to extreme stress and trauma and reveals his innovative (non-medicinal) methods for helping to ease their pain and allowing them to become healthy adults. In this deeply informed and moving book, Perry shares with the reader the lessons of courage, humanity and hope he learned from these scarred children. He dramatically demonstrates that only when we understand the science of the mind and the power of love and nurturing, can we hope to heal the spirit of even the most wounded child.
Industry Reviews
"In beautifully written, fascinating accounts of experience working with emotionally stunted and traumatized children, child psychiatrist Perry educates readers about how early-life stress and violence affects the developing brain. He offers simple yet vivid illustrations of the stress response and the brain's mechanisms with facts and images that crystallize in the mind without being too detailed and confusing."--Publishers Weekly
"In this harrowing but profoundly humane book, Perry and Szalavitz provide an all too timely, utterly engrossing account of traumatized children's lives.... Once I opened it, I could not put it down."--Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, author of Mother Nature: Maternal Instincts and How They Shape the Human Species
"The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog is Bruce Perry's finest achievement.... Anyone who wants to understand childhood trauma and its heartbreaking consequences must read this book."--Andrew Vachss, best-selling author of Mask Market and founder and national advisory board member of PROTECT: The National Association to Protect Children.
"This book demands and deserves attention from parents, educators, policymakers, courts, and therapists. Highly recommended."--Library Journal, starred review
"Filled with compassionate, caring stories by a wise healer and scientist, this book will appeal to all who are interested in understanding how children heal."--Lynn Ponton, MD, author of The Romance of Risk
"For many years, Bruce Perry's work has been deserving of our highest praise. This book is his crowning achievement, the ultimate combination of science and humanity."--Joel A. Dvoskin, PhD, ABPP, University of Arizona College of Medicine, and President, American Psychology-Law Society
"I have never encountered a child advocate with a better mind, a bigger heart, or a more generous spirit than Bruce Perry. This book captures the essence of his insights and the heroism of his actions on behalf of children who have encountered the dark side of human experience."--James Garbarino, PhD, author of Lost Boys: Why Our Sons Turn Violent and How We Can Save Them
"Perry has learned a thing or two about how not to raise a prospective sociopath.... He makes a powerful case for early intervention for disruptive children to prevent adult sociopathy."--Booklist
