Children in Care in Colombia

Disturbed Family Contexts and Psychic Structure

By (author) Cecilia Muñoz Vila

Book cover: Children in Care in Colombia

Extent: 240, 240 pages

Publisher: The Harris Meltzer Trust

Subjects: Psychology, Psychoanalysis, & Psychotherapy

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(March 2020)

ISBN: 9781912567751

5.94 x 9.06 inches

Price: $40.00

In stock

PDF (Published)

(April 2020)

ISBN: 9781912567775

Price: $40.00

Culturally based therapy with children and adolescents in social care in Colombia, using the psychoanalytic model of family structure developed by Donald Meltzer and Martha Harris, ‘The child-in-the-family-in-the-community’.


This book documents research and therapeutic work carried out with children and adolescents living in social care or disturbed family circumstances in Bogota, Colombia. The children, aged from two onwards, were seen by clinical psychologists from Javeriana University in a programme developed by Cecilia Munoz Vila in conjunction with the Colombian Institute of Social Welfare.The research model used is based on ‘The child-in-the-family-in-the-community’ by Donald Meltzer and Martha Harris, and the methods used by the therapists include play, drama, drawing, singing, and other modes of inviting the children’s own creative cultural responses to help express and work through their difficult situations.Many of the children and young people had experienced not only familial disruption but violence ranging from murder of a parent to recruitment into guerrilla bands. However their psychic struggles have a universal relevance and were treated, or explored, in an intensely empathic and mutually educative way by their young therapists, resulting in moving stories of the individual’s capacity to grasp developmental opportunities.

Introduction 1. From abandonment to object relations and adoption Raquel Sofia Diaz and Cecilia Munoz Vila 2. Institutionalised values and the dismantling of bonds Luisa Fernanda Cuta and Cecilia Munoz Vila 3. Destructive identifications arising from abuse and murder Lina Torres and Cecilia Munoz Vila 4. Keeping the internal object alive Johanna Diaz and Cecilia Munoz Vila 5. A storyteller with learning difficulties Cecilia Cortes and Cecilia Munoz Vila 6. Psychic disorientation and object destruction Julio Galindo and Cecilia Munoz Vila 7. A teenager living with rejection and loneliness Marcela Solano and Cecilia Munoz Vila 8. Adolescents returning from war Natalia Aguirre and Cecilia Munoz Vila 9. Mourning a dead parent Gloria Quijano and Cecilia Munoz Vila 10. Matriarchal domination and an absent father Andres Lasprilla and Cecilia Munoz Vila 11. Family disturbances and psychic boundary failures Cecilia Munoz Vila Addendum: the training workshops References Index,

Introduction

1. From abandonment to object relations and adoption
Raquel Sofía Díaz and Cecilia Muñoz Vila

2. Institutionalised values and the dismantling of bonds
Luisa Fernanda Cuta and Cecilia Muñoz Vila

3. Destructive identifications arising from abuse and murder
Lina Torres and Cecilia Muñoz Vila

4. Keeping the internal object alive
Johanna Díaz and Cecilia Muñoz Vila

5. A storyteller with learning difficulties
Cecilia Cortés and Cecilia Muñoz Vila

6. Psychic disorientation and object destruction
Julio Galindo and Cecilia Muñoz Vila

7. A teenager living with rejection and loneliness
Marcela Solano and Cecilia Muñoz Vila

8. Adolescents returning from war
Natalia Aguirre and Cecilia Muñoz Vila

9. Mourning a dead parent
Gloria Quijano and Cecilia Muñoz Vila

10. Matriarchal domination and an absent father
Andrés Lasprilla and Cecilia Muñoz Vila

11. Family disturbances and psychic boundary failures
Cecilia Muñoz Vila

Addendum: the training workshops

References

Index

  • By (author) Cecilia Muñoz Vila