Dr Judith Howard has produced a very user-friendly and informative guide to assist schools in supporting students with trauma and disorganised attachment. The book utilises case studies based on composite students that Howard has known in her past positions as school counsellor, educator, behaviour specialist, and researcher in Queensland, Australia, to illustrate how environment can impact on the neurological development and functioning of youngsters’ brains. Howard acknowledges the challenges that educating students with complex traumas present and offers educators insight and a more productive way of viewing these students.

Howard adeptly introduces the reader to attachment theory (Chapter 2) and brain physiology and functions (Chapter 3) in an accessible way, clearly connecting brain science to the types of behaviours observed in youth who have or continue to experience trauma. Key points are in bold, enabling those with some background knowledge in attachment theory or neuroscience to skim-read this background information. Those new to these fields are encouraged to read these sections as they lay the foundation for the strategies offered in Chapters 5 through 7. The book offers practical advice to assist schools in helping these students in developing relationships with educators and peers, and in emotional self-regulation. Howard offers schools alternatives to traditional suspension and expulsion and the process of resolving such practices when necessary.