Sources And Expressions Of Resiliency In Trauma Survivors

Examine the resiliency capacities of traumatized individuals and communities Sources and Expressions of Resiliency in Trauma Survivors provides a framework for understanding how-and why-resiliency is essential to the challenges of post-traumatic recovery. This unique book examines how this framework applies to trauma survivors, treated and untreated, from culturally, politically, and economically diverse backgrounds, using qualitative and quantitative research findings, clinical case reviews, and narrative studies to consider the implications for clinical practice, community intervention, and social change in the wake of violence. Sources and Expressions of Resiliency in Trauma Survivors provides practicing clinicians with new insights into the need for a full continuum of resources for traumatized groups, including: crisis response, individual psychotherapy and group treatment, victim advocacy, community intervention and social change. The book also helps clinicians and researchers become more familiar with theory-driven tools for use in psychological assessment, case formulation, treatment planning and outcome research, as well as for assessing resiliency in diverse groups of treated and untreated trauma survivors, identifying sources of risk and expression of resiliency; and examining how trauma survivors struggle to draw meaning from their experiences. Topics examined in Sources and Expressions of Resiliency in Trauma Survivors include: an ecological understanding of trauma, recovery, and resilience multidimensional trauma recovery and resiliency assessment tools first-person narratives of trauma survivors societal prejudice and psychological trauma expressions of resilience among incarcerated women, victims of childhood sexual abuse, Central American victims of war and political violence, sexually abused adolescent girls in Canadian child protective services, and other populations group therapy individual and social advocacy the history of the Community Crisis Response Team (CCRT) of the Victims of Violence Program and much more. Sources and Expressions of Resiliency in Trauma Survivors is an important professional and academic resource for clinical practitioners, community psychologists, public health practitioners, grass roots community activists, and trauma researchers.

This volume synthesizes cutting-edge research on natural processes of resilience and recovery, highlighting implications for trauma treatment and prevention. Prominent experts examine what enables many trauma survivors to heal over time without intervention, as well what causes others to develop long-term psychiatric problems. Identifying key, modifiable risk and resilience factors--such as cognitions and beliefs, avoidance, pain, and social support--the book provides recommendations for when (and when not) to intervene to promote recovery. Illustrative case examples are included. A section on specific populations discusses children, military personnel, and low socioeconomic status or marginalized communities.

Posttraumatic Growth reworks and overhauls the seminal 2006 Handbook of Posttraumatic Growth. It provides a wide range of answers to questions concerning knowledge of posttraumatic growth (PTG) theory, its synthesis and contrast with other theories and models, and its applications in diverse settings. The book starts with an overview of the history, components, and outcomes of PTG. Next, chapters review quantitative, qualitative, and cross-cultural research on PTG, including in relation to cognitive function, identity formation, cross-national and gender differences, and similarities and differences between adults and children. The final section shows readers how to facilitate optimal outcomes with PTG at the level of the individual, the group, the community, and society.

This book provides an overview of recent trends in the management of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorders that may ensue from distressing experiences associated with the process of migration. Although the symptoms induced by trauma are common to all cultures, their specific meaning and the strategies used to deal with them may be culture-specific. Consequently, cultural factors can play an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of individuals with psychological reactions to extreme stress. This role is examined in detail, with an emphasis on the need for therapists to bear in mind that different cultures often have different concepts of health and disease and that cross-cultural communication is therefore essential in ensuring effective care of the immigrant patient. The therapist’s own intercultural skills are highlighted as being an important factor in the success of any treatment and specific care contexts and the global perspective are also discussed.

This book has been replaced by Treating PTSD in Military Personnel, Second Edition, ISBN 978-1-4625-3844-7.

This book by women represents a diversity of opinions about every aspect of forgiveness, embodying a tolerance for differing perspectives. The contributors are researchers and therapists who have dedicated themselves to grappling with the controversies and conundrums associated with forgiveness. On the basis of their clinical and empirical work in the field, the authors have questioned established definitions, opposed emerging “truisms” within the field, and used research methods that run counter to traditional practices. The result is a compelling collection of research and clinical wisdom that pushes us to consider new perspectives on the mysterious process of forgiveness.

Trauma is defined as a sudden, potentially deadly experience, often leaving lasting, troubling memories. Traumatology (the study of trauma, its effects, and methods to modify effects) is exploding in terms of published works and expanding in terms of scope. Originally a narrow specialty within emergency medicine, the field now extends to trauma psychology, military psychiatry and behavioral health, post-traumatic stress and stress disorders, trauma social work, disaster mental health, and, most recently, the subfield of history and trauma, with sociohistorical examination of long-term effects and meanings of major traumas experienced by whole communities and nations, both natural (Pompeii, Hurricane Katrina) and man-made (the Holocaust, 9/11). One reason for this expansion involves important scientific breakthroughs in detecting the neurobiology of trauma that is connecting biology with human behavior, which in turn, is applicable to all fields involving human thought and response, including but not limited to psychiatry, medicine and the health sciences, the social and behavioral sciences, the humanities, and law. Researchers within these fields and more can contribute to a universal understanding of immediate and long-term consequences–both good and bad–of trauma, both for individuals and for broader communities and institutions. Trauma encyclopedias published to date all center around psychological trauma and its emotional effects on the individual as a disabling or mental disorder requiring mental health services. This element is vital and has benefited from scientific and professional breakthroughs in theory, research, and applications. Our encyclopedia certainly will cover this central element, but our expanded conceptualization will include the other disciplines and will move beyond the individual.

To what extent is restorative justice able to ‘restore’ the harm suffered by victims of crimes of interpersonal violence? Restorative justice is an innovative, participatory and inclusive reaction to crime that permits victims and offenders to engage in a communication process about the consequences of the offence. It looks to the future, actively involving parties to find, agree and implement ways to repair the harm. Restoring Harm analyses the restoration process from a psychosocial point of view and discusses the role of victim–offender mediation within such a process. It brings together literature from the fields of restorative justice, victimology and psychology, and shares original findings from victims who were interviewed in Belgium and Spain. This book not only offers descriptive findings but also provides a theoretical and comprehensive model that elucidates several possibilities for why victim–offender mediation may or may not play a role in victims’ processes of emotional restoration. Well informed and well documented, this volume brings together evidence from different regions and develops a detailed discussion of the ‘effectiveness’ of restorative justice with regard to victims. Providing new and solid evidence thanks to a quasi-experimental methodological design, theory and practice come together to offer relevant reflections for researchers and practitioners who are concerned about the victim’s position within victim–offender mediation and desire to develop a victim-sensitive restorative justice practice.