Abused children may struggle with conflicting feelings of guilt and innocence, omnipotence, and powerlessness; they may plead for attention and then turn away from it when it is offered. Even experienced therapists and other helping professionals may find themselves overwhelmed and confused by the depth of these children's pain, the complexities of its symptomatic manifestations, and the profundity and power of their own emotional responses. Focusing on the interplay between neurobiological and psychological facets of behavior, the volume shows how abuse disrupts normal development and how skillful psychodynamic psychotherapy can help children talk about, understand, and move beyond the harm that has been done to them. With a wealth of in-depth clinical vignettes, therapists are guided through developmentally informed assessment and treatment processes. The volume illuminates ways in which work with abused children is both similar to and different from the treatment of other children, giving special attention to issues of memory and disclosure, dissociation and externalization, and the relationship between action and spoken language. Also addressed are the effects of this kind of work on therapists and important factors in understanding and working with parents and caregivers. A chapter on the role of therapists in the legal system highlights psychodynamic considerations in the preparation of court-ordered evaluations of abused children. 166 references