The Child is father of the Man
William Wordsworth, 1808

Whether you are working psychotherapeutically with a child or adult, the patient's past experiences - even from birth - will be fundamental to the present predicament that brought them into therapy. Psychodynamic theory, of course, rests on the premise that unresolved conflicts from childhood place the unconscious pressures on the psyche that shape our adult emotional structures and the nature of our relationships. Every adult was a child and our childhood experiences naturally form the bedrock of the material that is unravelled in therapy.

When these childhood experiences are traumatic they have multiple developmental consequences. At this conference, which brings together a panel of exceptional child trauma experts, we will develop a stronger sense of the whole picture of child trauma and its reverberations in adulthood.

In DAY 1 we will look at developmental neuroscience, attachment theory, continuum between childhood and adulthood, working with adult survivors of severe childhood trauma.

DAY 2 is focused on sibling loss and separation, the importance of sibling relationships, children in care, fostered and adopted children and parents' role in their recovery from trauma, social and political issues regarding children in care and child trauma

In DAY 3 we will explore the experiences of the baby of the parent with a traumatic history, childhood sexuality, recovery from sexual trauma, the intergenerational effects of childhood sexual abuse, and awakening love in troubled children

DAY 4 is an intensive session with Dr Bessel van der Kolk covering childhood trauma and psychiatric illness, childhood trauma and eating disorders, new paradigms in working with traumatised adolescents and young adults, childhood trauma and the self, repetitions and fear of intimacy.

Although child and adult psychotherapists have distinct trainings, the developmental trajectory from birth through childhood to adulthood is not naturally divided into two sections. In this conference, therefore, our aim is to facilitate a discussion that rests on the continuum from infancy to adulthood. It will be relevant to the work of all professional communities interested in the child's emotional world.