In Torey Hayden’s seventh book TWILIGHT CHILDREN, she’s working as a child therapist with Cassandra, who had been abducted by her father for two years and experienced behavioral problems since returning to her mother. Drake, a charming four-year-old doesn’t speak, or even make a sound except to his mother.
Hayden also chose to include Gerda, a geriatric stroke patient who had difficulty speaking. I have no idea why Hayden included the story. She didn’t work with Gerda but volunteered to visit. Perhaps she didn’t have another interesting child to include in the book.
Torey works well within the system and understands the boundaries of her relationship to the patients, supervisors and team members. She’s clearly come a long way. I questioned some of her leading question techniques, particularly since abuse was suspected. Hayden acted as if her role was to determine what happened during the kidnapping, rather than help Cassandra learn self regulation skills to be released from the hospital. Healing from her abduction would take years. Hospitalizations are meant for acute psychiatric crises that can’t be managed outpatient.
I’m not sure why Hayden never contacted Mayo about Drake’s workup. Reports don’t show everything and having a conversation with a doctor can further understanding. The whole case was off and should have alerted her to HUGE red flags.
I admire Hayden’s dedication and determination to help her patients. She goes the extra mile and has apparently learned more appropriate boundaries than in her previous books.
TWILIGHT CHILDREN is an adequate, often compelling read for those interested in child psychology.