Childhood Trauma Research Paper

This can be seen when Jane asked her therapist for specific toys and then could not remember ever asking for them. The memory system in the hippocampus and the amygdala is very important, the brain is constantly being pruned, what is not used is lost.

The sudden recovery of repressed memories from a traumatic event such as childhood sexual abuse can be both validating and confusing for clients that are seeking help with various problems. These new memories might be able to help client identify the cause of their feelings and issues that are affecting their life. However for others it can be a very difficult time because of the conflicting emotions about the abuser. Worst of all when dealing with the recovery of repressed memories they may be all together false. The accuracy of recovered memories in regards to sexual abuse is low and can come with significant consequences. These false memories can be very harmful to the client as

Childhood and adolescence is a crucial time for humans- a time full of physical, emotional, and cognitive development. Upon observing the significant impact that trauma induced stress can have on adults following time in combat or an injury, when adults have fully matured in all areas, it raises the question of what influence post-traumatic stressors can have on development in children. This issue was so significant that in the DSM-5, the psychologists introduced a new, and separate, section of criteria for PTSD that specifically relates to the preschool subtype, or those individuals six years and younger. The first age specific sub-type for this disorder is important due to the rising number of studies and cases of PTSD in children.

In the case study by Ghosh-Ippen, Lieberman, and NCTSN Core Curriculum on Childhood Trauma Task Force (2012), Amarika is an 18-month-old girl who witnessed the shooting of her mother Makisha at a neighborhood park. Her mother survived the shooting, but was in the hospital for some time after to recover. Her grandmother, Marlene Lawrence, cared for Amarika. Mrs. Lawrence reported that Amarika was refusing to eat and having difficulty sleeping. This is when the social worker, Carla, was contacted to provide trauma intervention for Amarika.

deal with it in a way that works for them. To refer to the “Myths of

Childhood trauma contributes to the development of disorders later in life. Several psychological disorders may be caused by childhood trauma. These disorders may include: post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, addiction, borderline personality disorder, and dissociative identity disorder.

Your introduction is very engaging and emphasizes the important role of communication after experiencing trauma. I believe your topic is very relatable because there is a sense of denial, seclusion, and dissociation that correlates with trauma and loss that many of us have experienced. Open communication within a family unit provides opportunities to express thoughts and feelings and develop appropriate coping strategies (Zambianchi & Bitti, 2014). In your intro you stated, "The impact childhood trauma has on our society and on children." As a suggestion, maybe you could expand on this statement or state specific impacts childhood trauma has on our society or on children. I love your examples of evidenced based interventions and how

Prolonged exposure requires that the client repeatedly, in a systematic manner, relive the memories of the traumatic event over an extended period of time (Foa, Dancu, Hembree, Jaycox, Meadows, & Street, 1999; Foa & Rauch, 2004; Harvey, Bryant, & Tarrier, 2003). In prolonged exposure, the client is expected to (a) vividly call to mind the traumatic event, with as much detail as possible, (b) recount the memory of the traumatic event to the therapist in the present tense, and (c) have constant exposure to the memory until the distress decreases (McDonagh, McHugo, Sengupta, Demment, Schnurr, Friendman, Ford, Mueser, Fournier, & Descamps, 2005). The therapist’s role, in prolonged exposure, is to help the client identify “hot spots” or the most distressing aspect of the memory. The therapist and the client then develop a hierarchy of memories to address, from least to most distressing. These memories are addressed one at a time until habituation of anxiety to the memory occurs, which is determined by

The issue of 'false' vs. 'repressed' memories is of increasing relevance to counseling psychologists and indeed to any professional involved in therapy. The reputation of therapy is at stake, as clients begin to sue therapists for the implantation of false memories. In turn, it is essential that all clinicians conduct their therapy according to the latest guidelines of practice as to avoid suggestion and the possible implantation of false memories.

These experiences taught added more to the brave person I am today. Being able to overcome the fear that came with the traumatic experience taught me to be more open to experience even if they harmful. It taught me to see the brighter side of an experience; now I am in America a place where I am no longer fleeing for my own safety. I also learned that facing a problem is the only way to make sure you defeat it and making sure it does not become an obstacle in the future as well.

Psychoanalytic theory maintains that repressed memories are preserved for an indefinite period of time, and can be recovered in their original form through hypnosis and psychoanalytic therapy (McNally, 2003). This concept has been challenged, particularly around the manner in which retrieval happens. Ferracuti, Cannoni, De-Carolis, Gonella, and Lazzari (2002) argue that retrieval through hypnosis can yield confabulations (such as memories from previous lives). Gardner (2004) argues that psychodynamic therapists can place patients at risk for developing false memories. The notion of false memory has gained some clinical validation (Kaplan and Manicavasagar, 2001), increasing skepticism regarding the authenticity of recovered repressed memories. Ganaway (1989) proposed that if memories are not authentic, they could be due to fantasy, illusion, or hallucination-mediated screen memories, internally derived as a defense mechanism. Furthermore, memories combine a mixture of borrowed ideas, characters, myths, and accounts from exogenous sources with idiosyncratic internal beliefs. These inauthentic memories could be externally derived as a result of unintentional implantation of suggestion by a therapist. Advocates of repression used clinical cases indicating that child abuse victims may become amnesic of their trauma and that therapeutic interventions may generate a genuine recollection of their repressed trauma (Brenneis, 2000; Cheit, 1998; Kluft,

Childhood trauma is one of the most heartbreaking situations to ever fathom happening. Childhood trauma includes neglect, maltreatment, physical and emotional abuse, and many other forms of mistreatment amongst children. Childhood trauma occurs between the ages of 0 and 6 years of age. When referencing to childhood trauma, one must take thought into who commits the abuse, who is affected by the abuse, and what long term effects can the abuse have on the victims. One must also take into consideration the sex differences when referring to childhood trauma. Numerous of studies have been conducted and many findings have been made. Prior to conducting this research paper, I only considered childhood trauma to be what it was and never considered the long term effects. Because of my assumption, I never even considered the other categories of the trauma.

79% of the participants were females and 21% were males. The four groups were spontaneously recovered memory group, recovered in therapy group, the continuous memory group, and the controlled group. Subjects in the spontaneously recovered memory group said they had forgotten memories of childhood sexual abuse and then naturally recalled them outside of therapy. Those in the therapy recovered group said they recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse after therapy and by therapeutic techniques. Subjects in continuous memory group reported childhood sexual abuse and never forgot it. Those in the control group reported no history of abuse. Subjects within the groups were tested on false memory task and the FIA paradigm. In each of the ten trials of the false memory tasks, subjects studied a list of 15 words that were associated to a word not shown in the list. For example, bed, rest, and awake would be a part of the 15-word list that are related to sleep, the word that is not presented. In most cases, the subjects falsely recalled and recognized sleep as having been presented. To study previous knowledge of the subjects, the experimenters used a laboratory analogue that required the participants to recall information in qualitatively different ways. They studied a list of homographic words, followed by a context word. In test one, subjects were given a subset of a list with some of the letters in the target words cued with the same context word. In test two, subjects were asked whether they had recalled the given word in test one, which they often failed to recall. The procedure was different for each test. For the DRM test, participants would see lists of words on a screen and after viewing the words, they were asked to write the words down. The words stayed on the screen for three seconds and were then given two and a half minutes

The key concept of this literature review is to better understand how childhood trauma is associated with mental health, such as post-traumatic stress disorder

Do you think an experience can be so traumatizing that the brain pushes it into an inaccessible corner of the unconscious to later recall it years later? This concept on the mind is expressed as repressed memories. These are types of memories that are blocked unconsciously due to the high levels of stress experienced during the event. This theory on memories are based on the idea that even though the memory is repressed it is still affecting the individual in their conscious aspects of life. Repressed memories are often associated with childhood sexual abuse. This relies on the idea that these memories of sexual abuse can be brought up either in therapy or by the victim themselves years after the abuse. The concept of repressed memories has been a huge controversy in psychology from the beginning of time. Many people believe that repressed memories in regards to childhood sexual abuse are possible while others believe they can’t be as accurate as some people believe.