ABSTRACT
Among the questions that perplex and burden clinicians is how to interrupt a cycle of chronic stress and adversity so that children are not destined to repeat their parents’ tragedies. Anna Freud’s developmental theory grew out of her work with children and families beset with the most horrible of adversities and chronic stress. Since Anna Freud, considerable work has focused on understanding how adversity and trauma impacts children’s development. Indeed, as Anna Freud well recognized through her efforts to provide safe homes and reliable compassionate adults for the children in her care, the stability of a child’s caregiving relationships is key to buffering and/or minimizing the deleterious effects of chronic trauma. The challenge is to describe the impact of emotional abuse and neglect on a child’s development, in the context of an adversarial environment unused to the language of emotions.
