Sexualized Trauma Case Study

This presentation is on the article titled, “Recovery Ranch”, by Tim Smith. This recovery facility caters to those with a number of ailments, including PTSD. This facility located in Nunnelly, TN offers a continuum of addiction treatment services. This outdoor facility allows the clients to participate in an array of recreational and leisure activities. Some treatments of PTSD are cognitive behavioral therapy and cognitive processing therapy. The ranch can be quite costly. Recovery ranch uses the social behaviors of the clients in order for their healing process to begin. This topic was chosen because the clients are able to partake in many nature activities and the participants are able to cope better with people that they can relate to. It

Laura Jackson spoke as a guest speaker at Texas A&M University-Commerce (where I am proud to be a student) on September 22nd to discuss the importance of healing from sexual, physical, mental, and psychological abuse. Her life story was horrific, but somehow she survived to tell about it. She addressed different topics such as raising awareness about domestic violence and the importance of a personal relationship with God. I was honored to hear her speak and acquired knowledge from her that I can apply to my life and my surroundings.

As reading this “journal” the topic that has come to my attention is how a lot of these “nature writers” are looking at nature either as a positive or negative experience. Most of these shorts journals are looking at nature for not only for what it is, but what it offers, for example in the short “The Marginal World written by Rachel Carson she portrays “"The Shore is an ancient world, for as long as there has been an earth and sea there has been this place of the meeting of land and water. Yet it is a world that keeps alive the sense of continuing creation and of the relentless drive for life. Each time that I enter it, I gain some new awareness of its beauty and its deeper meanings, sensing that intricate fabric of life by which one creature is linked with another, and each with its surroundings."(481). Based off this quote, we can see that a lot of these authors did not only see nature as something that could be touched, but rather seen as a spiritual entity.

Nature represents the therapist view of the client's condition. The nature is based on three different factors, chemical, mechanical and neurological. Chemical comes and goes and is worse post activity and is often

The environment can have a positive impact on a person’s health. However, in order for that to happen we have to put ourselves in a place where we can get those positive responses. Sternberg explains that everyone needs to heal. Our senses allow us to heal, so nature plays a very important role in our life. We have to go somewhere that feels welcoming to us, somewhere where we can find peace, such as walking through gardens.

Humans often find bliss in nature, as it can be a place of comfort for many. On the other hand, nature is also a place where we go to test our strength, and learn life lessons. By getting out there and letting the trials of mother nature challenge us, valuable encounters and experiences build our character in a positive way. Humans crave adventure. With nature’s resources, the glorified idea of adventure becomes a reality.

This method is useful in trauma cases, which result to depression, anger and anxiety. It includes strategies and methods used to help individuals deal with past traumatic events in order to minimize anger and depression. Making an individual remember their past traumatic events enables them deal with their fears (Rizvi, Vogt, & Resick, 2009). The treatment period is dependent on the needs of a client and the healing progress. Edna. B. Foa is the scholar who developed the therapy program she based her study on the treatment of anxiety. Practitioners all over the United States have practiced her strategy on treating trauma caused due to rape, child abuse, motor

(2012) conducted a follow-up assessment on women who survived at least one episode of sexual assault at least three months prior to receiving treatment; 86% of the sample had experienced at least one other traumatic event in addition to the index event. To be included and considered for treatment, the participants could have no current psychosis, substance dependency, or violent ideation.

“With effective treatment, children can recover from sexual abuse and other traumas. In TF-CBT, one key to recovery is encouraging children to open up and talk freely about their trauma (Getz, 2012).” First trauma-Focused cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is an evidence based treatment is a model designed to assist children and their families in overcoming the negative effects of traumatic experience. There are many types of trauma events such as child abuse, domestic violence, rape violent and community violence and etc. I will be discussing three main section which are: Facing trauma, Evidence based treatment and what differentiates TF-CBT.

The article that I chose is a study that focuses on bringing trauma sensitive yoga into group therapy for female victims of partner violence to improve symptoms of anxiety, depression and PTSD. Survivors of intimate partner violence suffer from high levels of depression, anxiety and PTSD. The study was conducted on 17 females and 8 of them participated in the intervention. The females were age 18 or older and had completed a 16 week primary group therapy prior to being selected and were excluded from study if they were pregnant or could not provide written consent. The intervention was a 12 week trauma sensitive yoga protocol that was administered once a week for 30- 40 minutes at the end of a group therapy session. The trauma sensitive yoga

Imaginal exposure has gained a great deal of attention as the treatment for chronic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It involves telling someone about the event time and time again, reliving the traumatic experience. Combat veterans were the first to use the imaginal exposure therapy, and then treated with termed imaginal flooding. For the fear of “retraumatizing” victims and increasing their suffering, trauma experts have been hesitant to use imaginal exposure. The article talks about a present study where symptom exacerbation was examined in 76 women with chronic PTSD (Foa 1022). In the study, there were 64 treatment completers and 12 treatment dropouts (Foa 1025). Imaginal exposure in the Prolonged Exposure (PE)/Cognitive Restructuring

2. Chief Purpose: To encourage researchers, psychologists, and therapist to utilize information within the article to promote involvement with nature upon the human population. To help the human race to develop an eco-friendly environment.

Effects of Therapeutic Horticulture on PTSD: More recently, research has been coming out regarding the effects of therapeutic horticulture with those suffering from PTSD. Many of these studies have focused on soldiers with PTSD, a lot of these programs being nature based. Nature based programs include main components such as therapy gardens, experience of ‘taking in nature’, and mindfulness activities and reflection (Poulsen et al., 2016). Overwhelmingly positive responses from the participating soldiers have shown Therapeutic Horticulture programs to be beneficial. Further assessment measures should be taken to prove clinical significance within these nature bases programs.

Ritual trauma is known to be physical, sexual, and psychological abuse of both children and adults. The abuse usually happens within cults and involve ritualistic or religious elements. The physical abuse includes intense torturing that is so sever it often leads to death. The abusers tend to use mind control techniques, ritual treats, and even drugs to influence their victims to do whatever they want them to do. Many victims of the sexual abuse end up with intense scaring of their private areas. Victims have admitted that at one point they were required to do sexual acts to animal. The abuse in these ritual trauma cases are endless which makes it nearly impossible for victims to recover from it

To define environmental psychology, one must do so by considering the following four key features: “interactive approach; interdisciplinary and international; problem-focused, applied field; and diversity of methods” (Steg et. al., 2013, p. 5-6). To sum, interactive behavior is best understood by me as one’s interactions with nature and the effect nature ends up having on one after engagement has occurred. As a child, I grew up in Jackson County Forest in Black River Falls, Wisconsin. As well, with an indigenous and sustainable upbringing, I was more prone to participate in all aspects of my life with a holistic and reverent attitude. As it is explained in the textbook, the environment molded my past and current ongoing attitude and beliefs towards the environment. I am aware this is significant to note as those who are not brought up in such environments, as raw as the forests I grew up in, have a relationship with nature that is to be considered an ongoing work in progress. However, I must add the environment has changed for better and worse and has affected my outlook towards the future of places like Jackson County Forest. For instance, the environment is now considered more of a nuisance because of the amount of drugs that can be hidden, grown, and dealt bordering many cities and reservations. This juxtaposes the initial behavior and reverence I once had as a child and as an adolescent, who saw the forest as a place to partake in ceremonial practices with tribal