Resources for Trauma Therapists

My career has focused on the treatment of two distinct areas of clinical concern: (a) the traumatization of individuals as a result of exposure to an overwhelming event and (b) the difficulties that develop in intimate relationships. These two distinct areas often intersect and create a third area—the impact of trauma on relationships (and the importance of relationships in overcoming the impact of trauma). Since my first paper on the importance of the support system in the treatment of combat veterans, I have been attuned to this third area. In the past few years, I have edited two volumes that specifically address the intersection of trauma and relationships.

Handbook of Stress, Trauma and the Family (Routledge, 2004).

This edited volume is organized in the manner of a classic handbook in the field of psychology, which isolates an area of study and examines that area from the three perspectives of research, theory, and practice. In this case, the focus is the intersection between stress/trauma and relationships. The volume is written by many of the leading authors in the field and brings together a rich array of research findings, theories, and approaches to treatment. The result is a breadth of perspectives that exceeds anything previously published in this area. This broad look at the intersection of trauma and relationships reveals a variety of issues that have not been addressed on this scale, including the nature of support, the role of , attachment, the power of the view of self, the processes underlying secondary traumatization, and the importance of strength-based assessment approaches.

For example, we know that the effects of an individual’s traumatization can be transmitted to other family members, but the mechanisms of transmission have not been entirely clear. Several chapters in this volume examine this phenomenon among different populations, revealing that there are multiple routes through which traumatic effects are transmitted, and these routes differ according to the nature of the relationship: (a) marital partners may be more affected by the problems of living with symptomatic spouses, especially symptoms of anger, hostility and paranoia, (b) parents may be more vulnerable to feeling their children’s pain, an empathic route most similar to the concept of vicarious traumatization, and (c) children may be more vulnerable to feeling their parents’ pain and identifying with their parents’ traumas, defenses, and worldview—even when they have not heard their parents’ stories.

The Theory section examines many of the latest theories to be applied to relational systems affected by stress and trauma. In addition to traditional systems theories, these include chaos theory, Hobfall’s conservation of resources theory, and theories about aging, the impact of chronic illness, and the intrapsychic transmission of tramatic effects. The Research section examines the phenomenon of secondary traumatization, the role of attachment processes and the role of social support in helping and hindering recovery. The Practice section of the handbook includes the latest models of assessment, as well as models for the treatment of families and the treatment of couples. Overall, this volume provides a very broad and very thorough coverage of topics related to the impact of stress and trauma on couples and families.

The book can be obtained online through:

Family Stressors: Interventions for Stress and Trauma (Routledge, 2005).

This edited book was written for practicing clinicians. The volume contains eight chapters, with each chapter identifying a specific type of stressor or traumatic event and a description of its impact on couples and families. Each chapter identifies the relevant issues and offers specific guidelines for treatment. The chapters cover: loss of a child, murder of a family member, traumatization of a child’s parents, traumatization of a child, childhood sexual abuse of a marital partner, infertility, adult children dealing with aging parents, and the impact of terrorism on family functioning.

The book can be obtained online through:

DOWNLOADS

The power of community. [pdf file]

This article was written after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. It was intended to remind people of the power of a sense of community to help us all through difficult times.

How fear differs from anxiety. [pdf file]

This article highlights the differences between fear and anxiety at both phenomenological and neurological levels. The article aims to explain how trauma therapies must first activate the traumatic memories and then lower the alarm state sufficiently so that sensorimotor memories can be be transformed into the abstract form of declarative memories.

LINKS

The following links lead to some of the top sites in the field of traumatic stress, where many more full text articles are available for download.

David Baldwin's trauma pages is one of the most comprehensive and useful
trauma-oriented sites on the web. It has been around for a long time, and
it just continues to get updated and improved. Highly recommended

The National Center for PTSD is run by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
It has free access to the PTSD Research Quarterly and PTSD Clinical Quarterly
journals, all the latest PTSD research instruments, and much, much more. It
is the number one resource for scholars and clinicians interested in trauma.

PILOTS is an archive for trauma-related articles, a must for scholars and
clinicians seeking specific information about trauma.

The Journal of Dissociation has online access through the University of
Oregon. This journal addresses issues, such as multiple personality, that
have not received sufficient attention in most of the traditional journals.

Sidran Books is a publisher that specializes in the area of trauma. They
have free articles online to help families and individuals.

The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies has conferences and
expertise to offer on the treatment of trauma disorders. Clinicians and
researchers who are interested in trauma should join.

The Child Trauma Academy contains many of Dr. Bruce Perry's articles
related to the impact of trauma on child development and how to deal with
these effects.