Grief is the process that occurs before people come to acceptance. It can be a painful experience involving many different feelings. Losses includes health issues, loss of a career, loss of relationships, an unborn child, and/orability or desire to have children. Experiencing loss and grieving may include physical, emotional, social, and spiritual responses. Grieving is essential for coming to terms with and processing the trauma and resultant losses. Trauma and its accompanying sense of loss may result in a terrible sense of disappointment and failure. Working with mental health professionals and other survivors can be extremely helpful in working through the grieving process. The grieving process involves acknowledgment and acceptance of loss. Psychotherapy is a process of “re-parenting” the inner child who may have had less than ideal caretaking. The neural connections in the brain can heal and change with new experiences.

This chapter focuses on informal caregiving among minority groups. It also focuses on context of caregiving and discuss the various specific challenges caregivers of minority older adults face. The chapter examines some of the specific caregiving interventions tailored for families of color and discuss the implications for practice, policy, and research. Medical advances and greater longevity point to healthier and longer lives for many, but both formal and informal caregiving remain a concern as individuals age and develop conditions that require care. Caregivers are often able to realize the positive aspects of caregiving when they are not struggling with financial or social support challenges. Despite the vast literature on caregiving in general, research pertaining to the needs and experiences of racial/ethnic minority older adults and their caregivers is limited, particularly for American Indians, Pacific Islanders, specific Asian American and Latino subgroups, and religious minorities groups such as Muslim Americans.

The inclusion of parents and family caregivers throughout the phases of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is essential for best treatment outcome with highly traumatized and internally disorganized children. Parental responses that create dysregulation in the child’s system also appear to be related to the parent’s capacity to reflect, represent and give meaning to the child’s internal world. This chapter shows a case that exemplifies how the caregiver’s activation of maladaptive neural systems perpetuates the child’s exposure to multiple and incongruent models of the self and other. Helping parents arrive at a deeper level of understanding of their parental role using the adaptive information processing (AIP) model, attachment theory, regulation theory and interpersonal neurobiology principals will create a solid foundation. The thermostat analogy is designed to assist parents in understanding their role as external psychobiological regulators of the child’s system.

The basic goals of phase one are to develop a working relationship and a therapeutic alliance and to determine if the level of expertise of the eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) clinician is adequate for the complexity of the case. Other goals are to develop a comprehensive treatment plan and case formulation. EMDR therapy was developed as a form of treatment to ameliorate and heal trauma. Clinicians working with complex trauma must have substantial understanding of the adaptive information processing (AIP) model and the EMDR methodology. During phase one, the clinician works on creating an atmosphere of trust and safety so a therapeutic alliance can be formed with the child and the caregivers. This chapter shows an example of how medical issues can affect the quality of the parent-child communications. The adult attachment interview (AAI) gives us the view of the presence of the experiences in the parent’s life.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related cortical dementias are a major health problem. Patients with AD and related dementia have more hospital stays, have more skilled nursing home stays, and utilize more home health care visits compared to older adults without dementia. This chapter discusses the role of family caregivers and how they interact with in-home assistance, day care, assisted living, and nursing homes in the care of an individual with dementia. It also discuss important transitions in the trajectory of dementia care, including diagnosis, treatment decision making, home and day care issues, long-term care placement, and death. It highlights the importance of caregiver assessment, education, and intervention as part of the care process. Dementia caregivers are at risk of a variety of negative mental health consequences. Another important moderating variable for dementia caregiver distress is self-efficacy.

The work directed toward increasing the child’s ability to tolerate and regulate affect, so that the processing of traumatic material can be achieved, is initiated during the preparation phase. The process of providing the neural stimulation to improve the child’s capacity to bond, regulate, explore, and play should begin during the early phases of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. The Polyvagal theory presents a hierarchical model of the autonomic system. In complexly traumatized children, the development of this system has been compromised due to the early dysregulated and traumatizing interactions with their environments and caregivers. When describing the various forms of bilateral stimulation (BLS), go over the different options and practice with the child. If the child went through the calm-safe place protocol successfully, motivating the child to actually use it when facing environmental triggers is an important goal.

This chapter starts with an examination of the normative aspects of parental care by considering the benefits that are experienced by children when they are reared by a parent or parents. A review of parental care is helpful in that it can guide peoples exploration of the challenges and difficulties faced by children who do not reside in parental care. The chapter advances a relationship-building framework used to explore the policies, practices, and research that are needed to promote more optimal outcomes for children and their caregivers. The importance of positive relationships, connections, and the sense of belongingness will be established as critical aspects of normative living and development for children. The chapter explores why and how kinship care should be fully developed as a formal intervention. It establishes benchmarks and guides that direct attention to meeting the needs of children who do not have the benefit of parental care.

This chapter considers the well-being of caregivers. Child safety is an important topic in kinship care for multiple reasons, not the least of which is that children are placed into relative’s homes as a strategy to end the maltreatment that brought them to the attention of the child welfare system. It is important that children experience both physical and psychological safety, but for many children who have been victims of maltreatment, psychological safety can be more difficult to achieve. Multiple strategies and suggestions for instilling a sense of psychological safety are offered for use by caregivers and child welfare workers. Kinship caregivers face a significant amount of scrutiny. Despite the fact that research reveals multiple and significant benefits associated with kinship care, many professionals question whether placement with kin is in a child’s best interest.

This chapter entails a review of “system readiness”, and discusses methods for conducting evaluations and research related to capacity building through system change. Moreover, with advocacy research being paramount in kinship care practice, its use in kinship care is addressed, covering the use of advocacy research strategies and methods for translating research findings into kinship care policy and practice. When service systems are ready for change, they are best served by a trained and supported workforce that is able to intervene and support families using culturally appropriate, evidence-based practice models. A probe into how evidence-based practices can become more effective in realm kinship care is offered. Children in kinship care not only need effective and supportive caregivers, but also need effective child welfare policies and programs. System of Care has been one approach used in child welfare to bring about necessary changes to local programming.