| Sumario: | Complex trauma or adverse childhood experiences are known to have detrimental, long-lasting consequences for both the child's development and the caregiving environment. In recent decades, advances have been made in developing effective interventions for this vulnerable group of families. The present study reports on features of feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a contemporary three-track psychoanalytic approach for complex trauma and explores patterns of symptomatic change pre- to post-treatment. Results suggest that real-world needs for a specialized approach are high and that primary caregivers find the approach highly credible and satisfactory. Moreover, findings indicate that the intervention was mode-rately effective, with just over half of the children exhibiting Clinically Significant Improvement (CSI) in socio-emotional and behavioral symptoms. The other children were mostly assessed by the therapists and primary caregivers to be in need of longer-term treatment and/or (semi-)residential care. Interestingly, regardless of CSI, exploration of symptom trajectories revealed two distinct patterns of change (with large or small fluctuations), evidencing non-linear and variable change across treatment. In sum, this feasibility and pilot trial provides preliminary support for the feasibility of implementing and further investigating contemporary psychoanalytic approaches to complex trauma that integrate traditional play-based methods with mentalizing- and trauma-informed frameworks.
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