Building a Bridge Out of Suffering: Using Attuned Relationships to Promote Affect Regulation with Mentors of At-Risk Children

A psychoanalytic model of intervention with mentors of traumatized children is presented which uses emotional attunement to promote emotional regulation and attenuate trauma. Neurological research and theorizing are applied to the explication of the healing power of attuned relationships. Three mediators for promoting emotional regulation are applied in this setting: stress management, or containment; strengthening the capacity to pay attention; and reflective function, or mentalization.