The Use Of Trauma Informed Practice Using Social Work Practice

While there is agreement that trauma informed care generally refers to a philosophical stance integrating awareness and understanding of trauma and its ongoing impact on patients’ health and lives, there is not yet consensus on a definition or clarity on how the model can be applied in a variety of settings. The philosophical underpinnings of trauma informed care trace to the feminist movements of the 1970s (Burgess & Holstrom, 1974), and the emergence of child-advocacy centers and awareness and response to child abuse in the 1980s. In combination with the growth of research in combat-related posttraumatic stress after the Vietnam War, the focus then expanded to mental health practice, especially in the context of traumatic events. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, social work and mental health professionals began to articulate organizational frameworks for delivery of trauma informed care, as well as conceptual models based on scientific evidence about how traumatic stress impacts brains and behavior (Bloom, 1997; Harris & Fallot, 2001; Covington, 2002; Rivard, Bloom, & Abramovitz, 2003; Ko, Ford, Kassam-Adams, et al. 2008; Bloom, 2010). In 1998, SAMHSA launched the Women, Co-Occurring Disorders and Violence study, a seminal study in 27 sites over five years that examined trauma-integrated services counseling. Following that, the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) began identification and distribution of empirically supported trauma-specific mental health

Trauma-informed care refers to a strength-based framework that is based on an understanding of the impact of trauma. This practice emphasizes on psychological, physical, and emotional safety for the providers, the survivors, and it creates an opportunity for the survivors to rebuild themselves and get a sense of control and empowerment. This practice is based on the growing knowledge about several negative impacts that are brought by psychological trauma (Withers, 2017). To understand more about trauma-informed care, this excerpt will examine what the concept entails, how one can change his or her practice to be more trauma-informed and incorporate Eric's experience in the discussion.

Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) was developed in order to facilitate the expression of affect and appropriate accommodation of the traumatic event. It begins with the trauma memory and focuses on the feelings, beliefs, and thoughts that are directly resulting from the traumatic event. During the treatment session, Sarah should be encouraged to examine whether the trauma appeared to disrupt or confirm prior beliefs to the experience. She should then be taught to challenger her self and modify her extreme beliefs.

Anyone who deals regularly with victims of trauma or is exposed to graphic pictures or text of trauma, can experience the effects of secondary or vicarious trauma. Vicarious trauma (VT) will affect thinking, while secondary traumatic stress (STS), or compassion fatigue, affects feelings and behavior of the counselor. The purpose of this paper is to discuss man-made or natural disasters as well as personal trauma, and the counselor’s role in these situations. Skills to help the counselor deal with the effects of vicarious trauma will also be discussed in this assignment.

The priority population is the staff of a school where I am introducing a trauma informed care program based on a prepared program based on A.C.E.S training. All of the school staff is included in this cultural shift. This is to insure that students will be consistently treated the same way whether they have an encounter with a cafeteria worker, a paraprofessional, or a teacher. The adults in the school will be the example and the leadership that models the program to the students and it will be important to involve in them implementation process.

In the social work profession trauma is a common source of where individuals’ lifelong issues can arise. Trauma can affect individuals for a continuous amount of time if it goes improperly addressed or unaddressed. The impact that childhood trauma has on social development is an urban social problem that urgently should be addressed in the social work profession. An urban social problem is a social condition that focuses on life and human interactions that disrupt, change, damage residents, communities, and social institutions. The geographical setting of urban social problem is typically in cities; however, they can occur anywhere, especially when many the population is affected.

Existing controlled examinations of intervention efficacy specific to only sexual assault and rape are presently minimal in comparison to intervention examinations of combination or other types of trauma (Regehr, Alaggia, Dennis, Pitts, & Saini, 2013). Psychotherapeutic interventions that fail to differentiate sexual assault and rape victims from other types of trauma victims may decrease the treatment effectiveness or inadvertently harm participants in this subgroup. Trauma associated from rape or sexual assault differs from other forms of trauma and treatment efficacy should be examined in this manner. Trauma from rape or sexual assault entail symptoms of PTSD, depression, suicidal ideations and sexual dysfunction. Individuals may also indicate feelings of vulnerability, loss of control, fear, shame, self-blame, societal blame and stigma (Russell & Davis, 2007; Regehr et al., 2013; Ullman &Peter-Hagene, 2014). This research proposal intends to explore the long term effectiveness of Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE) at reducing distress and trauma explicitly for adult victims of sexual assault and rape.

The purpose of this project is to introduce a brochure, based on current evidence, that can help rape victims find a healthy approach to recovery. It is important to provide victims with support, contact numbers, counselors and self help strategies in case they do not follow up with a medical professional. If victims refuse to talk it is important to teach them about therapeutic poetry and journaling which are optimal ways of expressing emotions. Holding in feelings over time can lead to self directed violence, nightmares, trust issues, and changes in relationships. Victims are at risk for re-victimization by society and the justice system. A brochure could provide reading material that can enable victims to regain

CBT is defined as a form of mental health based counseling, focusing on errors of cognition and perception. It usually involves a limited number of individual outpatient sessions (Park et al., 2013). This form of therapy, “helps you become aware of inaccurate or negative thinking, so you can view challenging situations more clearly and respond to them in a more effective way,” (“Cognitive behavioral therapy”, 2014, para. 1).

Battered woman syndrome (BWS) develops in many women and make it difficult for them to maintain and manage a sense of normalcy. Before data could be collected, I would need to speak with the girls without her partner present. In doing so, makes it difficult to effectively give informed consent. Some argue that BWS has been identified as a subcategory of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Therefore, speaking with them could put the participants at risk for retraumatization. In the field of counseling, our first premise is ‘non maleficence’ which means do no harm. There are various outcomes of participation in the study that could further damage their well-being (i.e retailation from partner and retraumatization). All participants in the study would need referrals to trauma professionals who specialize in intimate partner violence and/or Abuse. Counselors also have a duty to report any suspensions of abuse. As a mandated reporter it is my obligation to report any suspensions of abuse to the appropriate authorities. However, this would be difficult due to the confidential participation in the study by each

CBT is an integrated approach using various combinations of cognitive and behavioral modification interventions and techniques (Myers, 2005). The aim is to change maladaptive patterns of thinking and behaving that impact clients in the present (Weiten et al., 2009). From a cognitive behavioral perspective Jane would be diagnosed as having faulty thinking and dysfunctional behavioral issues suffering from depression, and anxiety in the form of Agoraphobia (Weiten et al., 2009).

Imagine being in a situation where you were drunk at a party and a stranger offers to take you home. However, instead of taking you home, they take you to their place and you ended up being a victim of rape. After that situation, one would feel traumatized because they would have emotional disturbance because they keep remembering that night. This is called Rape Trauma Syndrome because they would feel depressed, angry, and shocked that this happened to them. In this article, I learned that there are programs that can help with victims who have experience these types of events. For instance, the article states that there are there are two types of therapy that helps as follows: “Self-assertion training and supportive group therapy belong to the traditional forms of treatment” (Schneider 2001:587). In order for anyone to let go of their traumatizing past, they have to talk about it. Although it is hard for anyone to talk about those situations in detail, it is better than keeping it bottled inside.

It is apparent that the client is experiencing symptoms of PTSD due to her behaviors of becoming withdrawn, not motivated, experiencing nightmares to where her sleeping patterns are off balance, and her response to an individual waking her from her sleep. This shows the trauma due to her sexual assault in the past as a young child and adult. The issue also stems from the fact that counseling or therapeutic services were not provided after the first occurrence due to the client’s religion and culture background. Although discussing the sexual assault can be difficult for the client, as the clinician your goal is to ensure the client that she is safe to disclose in the office as well as allowing her to feel confident in receiving the services

Victims of intimate partner violence and rape exhibit a variety of psychological symptoms that are equivalent to other forms of trauma (ex. war and natural disasters). Experiencing trauma related to violence, victims experience shock, denial, disbelief, fear, confusion, and withdrawal (Frieze 2000). A number of victims are prone to becoming dependent and have a difficult time decision making. Although a single maltreatment may lead to perpetual emotional scarring, ongoing/ repetitive violence is likely to experience negative psychological changes (Frieze 2000).