Belonging

Sian Phillips, Ph.D., C.Psych. is a clinical psychologist in Kingston, Ontario. She is a certified DDP therapist, consultant and trainer, providing training internationally. She also has a private practice, specializing in the assessment and treatment of children who have experienced developmental trauma. Dr. Phillips is currently involved in helping her local school boards develop trauma informed classrooms and schools using Dan Hughes’s model of Dyadic Developmental Practice. She has two chapters in Art Becker Weidman’s book Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy Casebook published by Jason Aronson.Deni Melim is an elementary teacher in Kingston, Ontario (primary/junior/intermediate qualifications, special education specialist). She received her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Queen's University, Bachelor of Education from the University of Windsor and Master of Education from Queen's University. She began as a primary classroom teacher and quickly transitioned into special education supporting students with a variety of learning needs. She then moved to a consulting position at the Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board intensively supporting staff and administration working with students on the autism spectrum as well as students with developmental disabilities. Deni is starting her sixth year as the teacher in the Belong class using the PACE© model to support students with developmental trauma. She collaborates with school boards, mental health organizations across the province and community partners to support students with developmental trauma. Deni presents at the DDPI international conference and is part of community organizations supporting children and youth.Daniel A. Hughes, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and a member of the American Psychological Association and the Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy Institute. Dr. Hughes is the author of many professional books, including Building the Bonds of Attachment, 3rd ed. With Rowman & Littlefield, Brain-Based Parenting, The neurobiology of attachment focused therapy, and Healing relational trauma with attachment-focused interventions with WW Norton. He has been the keynote speaker at many conferences in the US, Canada, UK, and Australia, while also presenting at many other conferences and seminars. His website is danielhughes.org.

• Acknowledgments PrefacePart I 1 Lessons from Poly Vagal Theory: If a Child Could Do Better, He or She Would 32 Lessons from Interpersonal Neurobiology 3 Lessons from Attachment Theory 4 Lessons from Intersubjectivity 5 Dyadic Developmental Practice and Its application to Education 6 Co-regulation of Affect: The Affective/Reflective (A/R) Dialogue7 Using A/R Dialogue to Explore and Discover the Meanings of the Child’s Behavior Part II8 Belong: A Classroom for Children with Attachment and Trauma Difficulties 9 Our Day: Structured Flexibility 10 Meeting Challenging Behavior with PACE11 Lesson Planning12 Working with Parents and Community Supports Parents 13 Case Study14 What Have We Learned in Six Years?15 Bloopers: Where We Got It WrongPart III16 The J ourney of Three DDP-Informed Elementary Schools and One Alternative High School17 PACE and A/R Dialogues in a Regular Classroom Setting18 Two R’s: Relationship and Resources19 What Have We Learned?20 Alarmed, Written by Sian PhillipsAppendix A Appendix B Appendix C References

The book belonging is a must read for educators, principals, teachers, educational assistants, administrators, parents and social service professionals. It offers a hands-on, how-to guide for transforming a classroom and school into trauma-informed safe-spaces for our vulnerable children. All day treatment and small behavior classes need to adopt this model. I have had the privilege of attending the Belong classroom on several occasions and am always amazed at the wonderful relationship the classroom staff has developed with these children who have attachment/trauma issues. Their method is tried and true.