Ptsd Research Quarterly

This book is intended for clinicians at all levels of experience who seek a guide to the assessment of psychological trauma and its effects. After discussion of the theoretical foundation for understanding human responses to traumatic events, Dr. Carlson addresses both conceptual and practical aspects of selecting and administering measures to assess traumatic experiences and trauma responses. Additional chapters provide guidance in interpreting results of assessments and diagnosing trauma-related disorders and a brief introduction to major forms of treatment of trauma-related disorders. Profiles of 36 recommended measures of traumatic experiences and trauma responses are included and are designed to make it easy to find the information needed to obtain the measures. Measures profiled include self-report and interview measures of trauma, self-report measures of trauma responses, structured interviews for posttraumatic and dissociative disorders, and measures for children and adolescents. Flowcharts provide a quick reference for choosing measures at each stage of the assessment process.

When I was only starting the therapeutic work with the Middle Eastern patients, I was looking for some kind of guidance to enable my genuine understanding of the Muslim patient cases. However, the material was scarce, haphazardly scattered, and mostly referring to the traditional therapies. That was not helpful and was even more confusing. With time, I managed to amass my own systemized data based on regular observations, practical cases, reflections, and exchanges with the colleagues. This material helped me to approach each case individually while respecting the cultural environment of a patient. Eventually, the book was published. This is the kind of book that I have always wanted to find, and I had to write it eventually by myself. The work contains the systematized knowledge on the evolution of scientific psychology in the Islamic world, which starts with the prophetic times and continues until now. The book reveals the signifiers, which form a structure of a Muslim psyche. It also exposes the recurrent mental health complaints of the Arab patients and investigates their unconscious roots. The book is intended, first of all, for professionals who are directly related to the Muslim mental health-care system. Secondly, it is for anyone who is considering undergoing a personal analysis. And certainly, the edition is for everyone interested in the subject. This book does not intend to bring the answers. It rather continues the dialogue regarding the necessity of creating the psychological-counseling culture in the Muslim world.

Vicarious Trauma and Disaster Mental Health focuses on the clinician and the impact of working with disaster survivors. Floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, mass shootings, terrorism and other large-scale catastrophic events have increased in the last decade and disaster resilience has become a national imperative. This book explores vicarious traumatization in mental health providers who respond to massive disasters by choice or by circumstance. What happens when clinicians share the trauma and vulnerability from the toll taken by a disaster with the victims they care for? How can clinicians increase resilience from disaster exposure and provide mental health services effectively? Vicarious Trauma and Disaster Mental Health offers insight and analysis of the research and theory behind vicarious trauma and compares and contrasts with other work-impact concepts such as burnout, compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress. It proposes practical evidence-informed personal strategies and organizational approaches that address five cognitive schemas (safety, esteem, trust, control and intimacy) disrupted in vicarious trauma. With an emphasis on the psychological health and safety of mental health providers in the post-disaster workplace, this book represents a shift in perspective and provides a framework for the promotion of worker resilience in the standard of practice in disaster management.