Materials

Treating Chronically Traumatized Children

When children refuse or seem unable to talk about their traumatic memories, it might be tempting to ‘let sleeping dogs lie’. However, if left untreated, the memories of childhood abuse and neglect can have a devastating effect on the development of children and young people. How can these children be motivated and engage in trauma-focused therapy? Treating Chronically Traumatized Children: The Sleeping Dogs Method describes a structured method to overcome resistance and enable children to wake these sleeping dogs safely, so these children heal from their trauma.

Free downloads

Sleeping Dogs Barrier Tool

This tool is used to analyse cases on the barriers for trauma treatment and structure trauma-treatment planning.

Sleeping Dogs Development and Barrier Tool

This tool is a more elaborate tool, used to analyse cases on the barriers for trauma treatment as well as the child’s general developmental, and supports trauma-treatment planning.

Manual Barriers Form

This manual explains the meaning of the 19 questions in the Barriers Form.

Example Sleeping Dogs Barrier-tools Kevin

This is an example of the use of the tool

Worksheets

This tool is used to analyse cases on the barriers for trauma treatment and structure trauma-treatment planning.

Illustrations

These images can be used to explain interventions from the book.

Window of Tolerance animation

Lionel Walters from Tasmania made this great animation for us to use!

Therapeutic Sleeping Dogs children’s books

Tom and Sophie discover a heater

This book supports psychoeducation with the heater metaphor for children with attachment difficulties.

Tom and Sophie find a valuable stone

This book support psychoeducation with the stone intervention (Struik, 2019,  pp. 208- 209) to improve self-appreciation.

Other materials

Volcano

Video explaining the Volcano metaphor

EMDR Child protocol

EMDR leaflet for Indigenous children

CDES

CDES for Indigenous girls

A screening questionnaire for dissociative symptoms in children 

CDES for Indigenous boys

A screening questionnaire for dissociative symptoms in children

CDES Instructions

CDES Scoring

References

Struik, A. (2019). Treating Chronically Traumatized Children: The Sleeping Dogs method(Second ed.). London, UK/ New York, NY: Routledge

Struik, A. (2018). The Sleeping Dogs Method to Overcome Children’s Resistance to EMDR Therapy: A Case Series. Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 12(4), 224-241. doi:10.1891/1933-3196.12.4.224

Struik, A. (2017). The Trauma Healing Story. Healing Chronically Traumatised Children Through Their Families/Whanau. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 38(4), 613-626. doi:10.1002/anzf.1271

Struik, A., Lindauer, R. J., & Ensink, J. B. (2017). I Won’t Do EMDR! The Use of the “Sleeping Dogs” Method to Overcome Children’s Resistance to EMDR Therapy. Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 11(4), 166-180. doi:10.1891/1933-3196.11.4.166

Struik, A. (2017). Treating Chronically Traumatised Children with the Sleeping Dogs Method: Don’t Let Sleeping Dogs Lie! Children Australia, 42(2), 93-103. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cha.2017.13

Book review Grief Matters 2015

Book review Clinical Psychiatry 2015

Struik, A. (2016) The Sleeping Dogs ESTD Newsletter, 5 (3), Sept. estd.org