How People Respond To Trauma

I attended a seminar entitled Trauma Informed care which was presented by Center for Urban Community Services the Institute for Training & Consulting. The facilitator opened the training by defining Trauma informed care which is an engagement technique that recognizes the presence of trauma history and acknowledges the role of trauma in the lives of survivors’. The training provided an overview of the new diagnostic criteria from DSM-5 of Post Traumatic Disorder and other trauma related disorders (generalized anxiety, panic disorder, dissociative disorder) as well as other symptoms and behaviors that can result from trauma. The trainer also discussed vicarious trauma and its impact on staff supporting clients with trauma history.

Another limitation that can appear when examining the memory of trauma is that trauma victims do not elicit the same response to trauma. Individuals who experience psychological trauma, physical trauma or both all remember the abuse differently. Many trauma victims may have repressed those memories or simply forget the explicit details about their traumatic experiences. Toth and Cicchetti (1998) argue that victims will elicit different responses of they are diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and experience trauma on a single or multiple occurrence. Multiple experiences of trauma may give individuals a general memory of the abuse, however, it often overlooks and forget about the unique features of their traumatic experience.

The first goal of trauma intervention when any of the above issues are present is to ensure safety of both the client and others. This can be accomplished

In a trauma informed agency, it’s important that all staff are frequently updated with the principles of trauma informed care (Trauma-Informed Care: A Sociocultural Perspective, 2014). Such principles would involve a collection of resources, evidence based research, academic findings, reports, and quality approaches used by collaborating agencies (Trauma-Informed Care: A Sociocultural Perspective, 2014). Resources are very valuable to staff when they are needing a new strategy, in the case of their clients not responding effectively to former methods (Trauma-Informed Care: A Sociocultural Perspective,

In Somatic trauma therapy, a clients' defences are seen as resources for con­taining and dealing with traumatic material. The

In Jennifer Cisney’s lecture on “Impact Dynamics of Crisis and Trauma,” she outlined four major goals of Psychological First Aid. Above all the material in Module One, I found this specific material most helpful in my practice because it gives me focal points to ensure I am putting the correct focus on Psychological First Aid that I should. We have been learning the critical important of this First Aid to trauma survivors and how if they can be “triaged” correctly by these First Aid components it greatly impacts the person’s recovery.

The goal of training the staff and providers is to create a more understanding environment for the clients. This will be possible because the staff can recognize symptoms of posttraumatic-stress disorder, explore the client’s trauma and coping mechanisms, and decrease the need for medical attention. This goal can be measured by comparing the clients feedback before and after the training occurs. Trauma-informed care also teaches the clinician working with the client the symptoms of secondary trauma, retraumatization, and vicarious trauma to be on the look-out for. Their own self-care and how to handle and cope with the intense information of the client’s story will be discussed.

The term “Psychological trauma” refers to damage wrought from a traumatic event, which that damages one’s ability to cope with stressors. “Trauma” is commonly defined as an exposure to a situation in which a person is confronted with an event that involves actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to self or others’ physical well-being (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Specific types of client trauma frequently encountered by which therapists and other mental health workers frequently encounter in a clinical setting include sexual abuse, physical , or sexual assault, natural disasters such as earthquakes or tsunamis, domestic violence, and school or/and work related violence (James & Gilliland, 2001). Traumatic

This paper will define The Effects of Trauma and Crisis on Clients and Mental Health Counselors and give a brief overview on how these Natural and man-made disasters, crises, and other trauma-causing events have become a focus of the clinical mental health counseling profession. Due to the extreme trauma that children, adolescents and adult experience after a traumatic event it, is noted that most individuals that are exposed to traumatic experience usually develop major depression, generalized anxiety, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) later in

A trauma informed model of practice should centre upon a perspective that asks the client user ‘what happened to you’ rather than ‘what is wrong with you’ (Bloom and Farragher). This approach promotes the base line for which the service should be impliemented; an approach which enable to cliet to connect how their trauma has influence their behaviour, feelings, coping mechanisim and general perspective (Felitti et al. 1998). Staff within the home should have a good degree of trauma informed care as this enable for a deeper understanding of how the trauma can impact upon the individual and allow for holistic care (Harris and Fallot, 2001) and enables better support and help reduce to protential for re-tramatisation via triggers and uncousious re-enactment of trauma (SAMHSA, 2010). Implementing the above approach the client can receive the holistic carer they require in order to begin to overcome the trauma they have experienced.

It will be important to conduct the trauma based assessment as early as possible. However, it is vital that a therapeutic rapport be established with the client before proceeding in asking questions regarding the trauma. It takes time for a traumatized individual to trust and be willing to disclose their experiences. When it is felt that the client is ready it is important to let the client know that they have the right to not answer questions. It is important to discuss why we are asking the questions and ensuring the client that we have their best interests in mind and can provide them with a safe and secure location to work through the trauma.

In addition to my past trauma, in the video clip for this week’s forum Reshaping the Trauma Narrative, Donald Meichenbaum stresses creating a therapeutic alliance with the client with PTSD and establish a safe environment. Furthermore, he states how examining the elements involved in the trauma is an important aspect for the counselor to gain an idea for this client’s recovery process and if the client is using harmful coping skills such as abusing drug and alcohol or are they using intrusive ideation by incorporating suppressive views and isolating actions that are making the situation unhealthier (Psychotherapy Networker, 2012). Based on how my history of trauma affected my adult health, was by how I thought my behavior and reaction to loud

When working with clients in today’s society it’s extremely important to take into consideration the specific needs of each individual. Serious contemplation is given to the approaches and methods regarding the client’s need and presenting matters. Trauma appears in many forms in society, even from the 1960’s due to the impact on returning soldiers from war. Since this, trauma has been categorised and widely researched leading to numerous theories. Psychotherapies were one of the first approaches to be founded in the 1970’s, which were the foundations to counselling

A traumatic experience influences the entire person – how they think, how they learn, how they remember things, the way they feel about themselves, the way they feel about other people, and the way they perceive the world, are all profoundly altered by the traumatic experience (Bloom, 1999). Constructivist Self Development Theory (Pearlman & Saakvitne, 2000) can explain both the negative changes that occur in the aftermath of a traumatic event, as well as the positive changes which occur as a result of adaptation and meaning making. It is difficult to measure the complexities of an individual's response to a traumatic event. How an individual responds to trauma is sadly often embedded in socio-cultural contexts, often with political and moral

When I decided to take the trauma course, I was hesitant at first to take it. I did not know what to expect nor felt I would be prepare listen to stories about traumatic occurrences, despite of the number of years I have worked in the field of community mental health. Therefore, now that we are in week eight, I am delighted to have taken this course. The impression I had at first, has changed my insight concerning what is trauma, as for many years, I did not understand why a person in many instances, could not process their trauma. In a quote by Chang stated, “The greater the doubt, the greater the awakening; the smaller the doubt, the smaller the awakening. No doubt, no awakening” (Van Der Kolk, 2014, p. 22). The goes in congruence with my understanding on trauma and how it has changed during this course. As a result, I feel I am awakening when acquiring more about trauma.