Series in Trauma and Loss – serie

How is an individual to lead a comfortable, productive existence when he or she was never taught the skills necessary for effective living? Adult survivors of child abuse often face this dilemma. Instead of being nurtured as children and taught life-skills by their caregivers, child abuse survivors were subjected to a daily regimen of coercive control, contempt, rejection and emotional unresponsiveness. It is not surprising, therefore, that many survivors encounter difficulty adjusting from this type of damaging childhood atmosphere to one in which they have autonomy. This book addresses the particular problems associated with treating adult survivors of child abuse. Until now, psychotherapy for child abuse survivors often centered on the trauma of their abuse experiences. However, survivors frequently reveal a history suggesting it was not abuse trauma alone that created their difficulties, but growing up essentially alone - without the consistent emotional support and guidance needed for development of effective functioning. This book presents an alternative to trauma-focused treatment that, though effective for treatment of other forms of trauma, can induce deteriorated rather than improved functioning in survivors of prolonged childhood maltreatment. The contextual therapy presented in Not Trauma Alone delineates a psychotherapeutic approach that emphasizes helping survivors develop the capacities for effective functioning that were never transmitted to them during their formative years. Detailed descriptions of the methods and interventions comprising contextual therapy are included in this critical book for all mental health professionals, clinicians, academics, and students in the field.

The assumptive world concept is a psychological principle of the conservation of human reality or "culture" - it is a lens for seeing the psychological disturbances that occur in times of change. In this collection, the authors examine the assumptive world from diverse theoretical perspectives, providing the reader with an array of different viewpoints illuminating the concept and its clinical usefulness.

First published in 1998. Paul Valent sees that the dialectic is not between "life and death" but between "life and trauma". This text theorizes that the big issues of life can now be approached through the science of traumatology. Through communication with, and observation of, people whose lives have been stretched under stress or disrupted by trauma, the fulfilling components of their lives can be defined, oriented and categorized. It introduces the theory on the back of clinical and historical material, examining the current state of such concepts as stress, trauma, defences, memories, post post-traumatic stress disorder, and other illnesses. It should be of interest to those in the healing professions or to those who work with traumatized individuals, lawyers, social workers, clergy and those in the humanities in general.

First published in 1998. Paul Valent sees that the dialectic is not between "life and death" but between "life and trauma". This text theorizes that the big issues of life can now be approached through the science of traumatology. Through communication with, and observation of, people whose lives have been stretched under stress or disrupted by trauma, the fulfilling components of their lives can be defined, oriented and categorized. It introduces the theory on the back of clinical and historical material, examining the current state of such concepts as stress, trauma, defences, memories, post post-traumatic stress disorder, and other illnesses. It should be of interest to those in the healing professions or to those who work with traumatized individuals, lawyers, social workers, clergy and those in the humanities in general.

When disaster strikes, survivors suddenly find themselves in a world that has become confusing and unfamiliar. Such traumatic events impose severe psychological strain on every member of a community, but children are a particularly vulnerable group requiring special attention. Children and Disasters addresses the needs of this specific population by examining the impact of major disasters on the mental health and emotional functioning of children.The programs described in this book are designed to provide early intervention to children and families undergoing stress reactions to a catastrophic event. The authors offer interventions aimed at enhancing the skills of mental health professionals, educators, and peer counselors in responding to the intensified demands of disasters. These intervention approaches provide information regarding the event itself, reinforce the legitimacy of the anxieties and fears that children and their families are experiencing, and encourage the expression of feelings in group and individual settings (for the younger child, through drawing and play). Furthermore, they build on the coping capacity of individuals and theirs families and provide concrete coping skills and techniques to alleviate stress reactions.The intervention model can be applied to programs for individual children and their families, multi-family groups, and groups for children in mental health, educational, and community settings. The practical hands-on approach to program design makes this book an attractive resource for mental health professionals, social workers, rehabilitation specialists, professional and volunteer counselors, and suicide intervention workers. It will also be useful for school personnel, including teachers, school counselors, and administrators, as well as federal and state emergency planners and coordinators.

Wars, violence, and natural disasters often require mental health interventions with people from a multitude of ethnic groups, religions, and nationalities. Within the United States, those who care for the victims of trauma often assist individuals from a variety of immigrant cultures. Moreover, many aspiring mental health professionals from other countries seek training in the United States, creating an additional need for a broad cultural awareness within educational institutions.Honoring Differences deals with the treatment of trauma and loss while recognizing and understanding the cultural context in which the mental health professional provides assistance. Training in the cultural beliefs that may interact with traumatic reactions is essential, both to assess traumatic response accurately and to prevent harm in the process of assessing and treating trauma. Various cultures within the United States and several international communities are featured in the book.Each culturally-specific chapter aims to help the caregiver honor the valued traditions, main qualities, and held beliefs of the culture described and prepare to enter the community well-informed and well-equipped to intervene or consult effectively. Further more, the book provides information about issues, traditions, and characteristics of the culture, which are essential in moving through the phases of post-trauma or other mental health intervention.Mental health professionals, trauma specialists, missionaries, and organizations that send consultants to other nations, will find Honoring Differences essential reading. It will also be a resource to those who are interested in cultural differences and in honoring the belief systems of other cultures and nations.

Trauma results in a wide variety of human unhappiness. In parallel, treatment of the consequences of trauma ranges from drugs, to single session psychological techniques, to management and cognitive therapies, to psychotherapies which take years. Some therapies deal with individuals, others with groups, some with children, and others with adults. With such a multiplicity of options, it can be difficult to make sense of the variety of manifestations and treatments. This work aims to clarify the situation by offering tools to conceptualize and treat a range of symptoms and illnesses, and to replace them with equally well conceptualized fulfillment alternatives. It is geared towards traumatologists, psychologists, counsellors, and social workers who help those who have suffered assault, bereavement, sexual abuse, or disasters. Upper level undergraduates students, graduate students and professors in trauma, loss, and bereavement.

Trauma results in a wide variety of human unhappiness. In parallel, treatment of the consequences of trauma ranges from drugs, to single session psychological techniques, to management and cognitive therapies, to psychotherapies which take years. Some therapies deal with individuals, others with groups, some with children, and others with adults. With such a multiplicity of options, it can be difficult to make sense of the variety of manifestations and treatments. This work aims to clarify the situation by offering tools to conceptualize and treat a range of symptoms and illnesses, and to replace them with equally well conceptualized fulfillment alternatives. It is geared towards traumatologists, psychologists, counsellors, and social workers who help those who have suffered assault, bereavement, sexual abuse, or disasters. Upper level undergraduates students, graduate students and professors in trauma, loss, and bereavement.

When a Community Weeps provides a model for effective counselor intervention in bereaved communities. Individual chapters have been written by traumatologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and family members who have witnessed the effects of traumatic events first hand. Each chapter presents a specific traumatic event and gives perspectives on how these events affected the individuals involved as well as the community as a whole.

First published in 1999. Those grieving the loss of a loved one who has died under traumatic circumstances form a special group of mourners. Separate from those going through "simple bereavement", these mourners must cope with a double-edged sword: the grief of the loss and the trauma of the knowledge of how the loved one may have had to endure traumatic stress during their final minutes of life. This ground-breaking new addition to the Series in Trauma and Loss will enable mental health professionals to distinguish between those who are going through the 'normal' grieving process in the aftermath of a traumatic event, and those who are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. A by-product of years of research and experience, this book helps buttress the theoretical bridge between thanatology and traumatology. This text focuses on the unique features of death-related PTSD, its assessment, and treatment. With case examples that draw upon consistent concepts and definitions, and equal attention to scholarly and practical concerns, the book argues that traumatic elements must be worked through first before grief and loss accommodations are achieved. More importantly, the new research and treatment methods presented by the leading experts in the field provide professionals and laymen alike with a valuable guide for understanding and helping those who grieve a loss under traumatic circumstances. Divided into two parts, Part 1: Conceptual and Empirical Foundations attempts to lay the empirical and theoretical foundation for the treatment chapters that follow. Part 2: Applications provides direction for helping clients grieve their traumatic losses

First published in 1999. Those grieving the loss of a loved one who has died under traumatic circumstances form a special group of mourners. Separate from those going through "simple bereavement", these mourners must cope with a double-edged sword: the grief of the loss and the trauma of the knowledge of how the loved one may have had to endure traumatic stress during their final minutes of life. This ground-breaking new addition to the Series in Trauma and Loss will enable mental health professionals to distinguish between those who are going through the 'normal' grieving process in the aftermath of a traumatic event, and those who are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. A by-product of years of research and experience, this book helps buttress the theoretical bridge between thanatology and traumatology. This text focuses on the unique features of death-related PTSD, its assessment, and treatment. With case examples that draw upon consistent concepts and definitions, and equal attention to scholarly and practical concerns, the book argues that traumatic elements must be worked through first before grief and loss accommodations are achieved. More importantly, the new research and treatment methods presented by the leading experts in the field provide professionals and laymen alike with a valuable guide for understanding and helping those who grieve a loss under traumatic circumstances. Divided into two parts, Part 1: Conceptual and Empirical Foundations attempts to lay the empirical and theoretical foundation for the treatment chapters that follow. Part 2: Applications provides direction for helping clients grieve their traumatic losses

Group Treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorders is a collection written by renowned PTSD experts who provide group treatment to trauma survivors. The book reviews the state-of-the-art applications of group therapy for survivors of trauma such as: rape victims, combat veterans, adult survivors of childhood abuse, motor vehicle accident survivors, trauma survivors with co-morbid substance abuse, survivors of disaster, families of trauma survivors, homicide witnesses and survivors, and disaster relief workers.This book a unique contribution to the field. Each chapter provides a detailed and comprehensive description of state-of-the-art group treatment and artfully combines scholarly review with a step-by-step summary of treatment rationale and methods. Furthermore, the book covers a wide scope, typically found only in large, multi-volume compendia.Group Treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorders is ideal for clinicians, aspiring clinicians, researchers and educators. It provides a unique and eminently readable summary of group therapy applied to increasingly recognized clinical populations.

The loss of a family member, significant other, or friend exposes the afflicted person to a higher risk for several types of psychiatric disorders. In addition to the potential complications that include major depression, anxiety, and PTSD, there is much current (and renewed) interest in pathologic forms of grief. Jacobs, in this innovative new text, introduces the term traumatic grief as description of this diagnostic entity. Here, working criteria, associated descriptive features, and the clinical course of traumatic grief are detailed as the author further verifies the concept of traumatic grief as a disorder. As this is the first discussion of the clinical use of the diagnostic criteria for traumatic grief, this text serves as a foundation for psychiatric diagnosis and treatment of traumatic grief. The format follows the outline for disorders used in the DSM making this a useful tool for the practicing clinician.

When disaster strikes, survivors suddenly find themselves in a world that has become confusing and unfamiliar. Such traumatic events impose severe psychological strain on every member of a community, but children are a particularly vulnerable group requiring special attention. Children and Disasters addresses the needs of this specific population by examining the impact of major disasters on the mental health and emotional functioning of children.The programs described in this book are designed to provide early intervention to children and families undergoing stress reactions to a catastrophic event. The authors offer interventions aimed at enhancing the skills of mental health professionals, educators, and peer counselors in responding to the intensified demands of disasters. These intervention approaches provide information regarding the event itself, reinforce the legitimacy of the anxieties and fears that children and their families are experiencing, and encourage the expression of feelings in group and individual settings (for the younger child, through drawing and play). Furthermore, they build on the coping capacity of individuals and theirs families and provide concrete coping skills and techniques to alleviate stress reactions.The intervention model can be applied to programs for individual children and their families, multi-family groups, and groups for children in mental health, educational, and community settings. The practical "hands-on" approach to program design makes this book an attractive resource for mental health professionals, social workers, rehabilitation specialists, professional and volunteer counselors, and suicide intervention workers. It will also be useful for school personnel, including teachers, school counselors, and administrators, as well as federal and state emergency planners and coordinators.

Wars, violence, and natural disasters often require mental health interventions with people from a multitude of ethnic groups, religions, and nationalities. Within the United States, those who care for the victims of trauma often assist individuals from a variety of immigrant cultures. Moreover, many aspiring mental health professionals from other countries seek training in the United States, creating an additional need for a broad cultural awareness within educational institutions.Honoring Differences deals with the treatment of trauma and loss while recognizing and understanding the cultural context in which the mental health professional provides assistance. Training in the cultural beliefs that may interact with traumatic reactions is essential, both to assess traumatic response accurately and to prevent harm in the process of assessing and treating trauma. Various cultures within the United States and several international communities are featured in the book.Each culturally-specific chapter aims to help the caregiver honor the valued traditions, main qualities, and held beliefs of the culture described and prepare to enter the community well-informed and well-equipped to intervene or consult effectively. Further more, the book provides information about issues, traditions, and characteristics of the culture, which are essential in moving through the phases of post-trauma or other mental health intervention.Mental health professionals, trauma specialists, missionaries, and organizations that send consultants to other nations, will find HonoringDifferences essential reading. It will also be a resource to those who are interested in cultural differences and in honoring the belief systems of other cultures and nations.

When a Community Weeps provides a model for effective counselor intervention in bereaved communities. Individual chapters have been written by traumatologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and family members who have witnessed the effects of traumatic events first hand. Each chapter presents a specific traumatic event and gives perspectives on how these events affected the individuals involved as well as the community as a whole.

Group Treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorders is a collection written by renowned PTSD experts who provide group treatment to trauma survivors. The book reviews the state-of-the-art applications of group therapy for survivors of trauma such as: rape victims, combat veterans, adult survivors of childhood abuse, motor vehicle accident survivors, trauma survivors with co-morbid substance abuse, survivors of disaster, families of trauma survivors, homicide witnesses and survivors, and disaster relief workers.This book a unique contribution to the field. Each chapter provides a detailed and comprehensive description of state-of-the-art group treatment and artfully combines scholarly review with a step-by-step summary of treatment rationale and methods. Furthermore, the book covers a wide scope, typically found only in large, multi-volume compendia.Group Treatment for Post TraumaticStress Disorders is ideal for clinicians, aspiring clinicians, researchers and educators. It provides a unique and eminently readable summary of group therapy applied to increasingly recognized clinical populations.

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Westerners watched those who had survived the era of Soviet trauma emerge into what we hoped would be the exhilarating light of freedom. What we have witnessed, however, is a slow and painful process of progression and regression, of hope and disillusionment, of unexpected psychological barriers: invisible walls that block the progress we had hoped for. In Beyond Invisible Walls, East European therapists, themselves, draw a compelling picture of the waves of trauma that their people endured, the institutions of trauma that remained well after Stalin's era, and their impact on survivors and their families. They describe the psychological remnants of those years: walls that confine people by unconsciously preserving old adaptations to political terror, walls that divide one part of the mind from another, and walls that rise between one generation and the next. These therapists' stories allow us a striking glimpse into how patients' trauma evokes the therapists' own wounds; how both speaker and empathic listener find their way to a healing process, how the two begin to dismantle these invisible walls.

List of Tables. List of Figures. Series Editor's Foreword. Preface. Prologue. Acknowledgements. What It Means to Be a Parent After a Child Had Died. The "Mothers Now Childless" Study: Research Design and Findings. When a Child Dies, Does Grieving Ever End? One Death - A Thousand Strands of Pain: Finding the Meaning of Suffering. Bereaved Parents' Search for Understanding: The Paradox of Healing. Confronting a Spiritual Crisis: Where is God When Bad Things Happen? Confronting an Existential Crisis: Can Life Have Purpose Again? Deciding to Survive: Reaching Bottom - Climbing Up. Remembering With Love: Bereaved Parents as Biographer. Reaching Out to Help Others: Wounded Healers. Reinventing the Self: Parents Ask, "Who Are We Now?". The Legacy of Loss. References. Resources. Appendices. Index.

First published in 1997. Although the fields of thanatology and traumatology have received robust attention during their parallel development, little effort has been made to address their overlapping territory. This volume is the first attempt to do so. Specifically, the purpose of this book is fourfold. First is to provide a theoretical bridge between the two fields by providing conceptual terminology, such as defining normal versus dysfunctional bereavement and the meaning and range of death-related PTSD. The second confirms and illustrates the identical patterns of reactions between those who survive the death of a loved one and those who survive other traumatic events. Next the book applies the most useful theoretical models to the bereavement experience, and in turn acknowledges the utility of generalizing bereavement models to other traumatic experiences; in doing so, the two fields can enrich each other. Similarly, the volume's final purpose is to identify and apply the most useful and effective approaches in traumatology literature to the study, diagnosis and treatment of traumatic stressors other than death.

How is an individual to lead a comfortable, productive existence when he or she was never taught the skills necessary for effective living? Adult survivors of child abuse often face this dilemma. Instead of being nurtured as children and taught life-skills by their caregivers, child abuse survivors were subjected to a daily regimen of coercive control, contempt, rejection and emotional unresponsiveness. It is not surprising, therefore, that many survivors encounter difficulty adjusting from this type of damaging childhood atmosphere to one in which they have autonomy. This book addresses the particular problems associated with treating adult survivors of child abuse. Until now, psychotherapy for child abuse survivors often centered on the trauma of their abuse experiences. However, survivors frequently reveal a history suggesting it was not abuse trauma alone that created their difficulties, but growing up essentially alone - without the consistent emotional support and guidance needed for development of effective functioning. This book presents an alternative to trauma-focused treatment that, though effective for treatment of other forms of trauma, can induce deteriorated rather than improved functioning in survivors of prolonged childhood maltreatment. The contextual therapy presented in Not Trauma Alone delineates a psychotherapeutic approach that emphasizes helping survivors develop the capacities for effective functioning that were never transmitted to them during their formative years. Detailed descriptions of the methods and interventions comprising contextual therapy are included in this critical book for all mental health professionals, clinicians, academics, and students in the field.

Based on 15 years of experience working with organ procurement organizations and donor families, Wrapped inMourning addresses the heretofore unexplored subject of organ donor family trauma. This book covers the issues surrounding organ donation, including the history of organ transplantation, how organs are procured for transplantation, as well as the medical procedure itself. Each issue is explored with regards to its impact upon donor families. Ways to reduce grief, prevent problems, and increase the benefits of donating organs for the donating family are also discussed.

List of Tables. List of Figures. Series Editor's Foreword. Preface. Prologue. Acknowledgements. What It Means to Be a Parent After a Child Had Died. The "Mothers Now Childless" Study: Research Design and Findings. When a Child Dies, Does Grieving Ever End? One Death - A Thousand Strands of Pain: Finding the Meaning of Suffering. Bereaved Parents' Search for Understanding: The Paradox of Healing. Confronting a Spiritual Crisis: Where is God When Bad Things Happen? Confronting an Existential Crisis: Can Life Have Purpose Again? Deciding to Survive: Reaching Bottom - Climbing Up. Remembering With Love: Bereaved Parents as Biographer. Reaching Out to Help Others: Wounded Healers. Reinventing the Self: Parents Ask, "Who Are We Now?". The Legacy of Loss. References. Resources. Appendices. Index.

The assumptive world concept is a psychological principle of the conservation of human reality or "culture" - it is a lens for seeing the psychological disturbances that occur in times of change. In this collection, the authors examine the assumptive world from diverse theoretical perspectives, providing the reader with an array of different viewpoints illuminating the concept and its clinical usefulness.