|
|
 |
|
Affiliation:
Protection Against Trauma
Emotional
attachment is the primary protection against being
traumatized: people have always gathered in communities and
organizations to help them deal with outside challenges: we
seek close emotional relationships with others in order to
help us anticipate, meet and integrate difficult experiences.
Contemporary research has
shown that as long as the social support network remains
intact, people are relatively well protected against even
catastrophic stresses. For young children, the family usually
is a very effective source of protection against
traumatization, and most children are amazingly resilient as
long as they have a caregiverwho is emotionally and physically
available. Mature people also rely on their families,
colleagues and friends to provide such a trauma membrane.
|
|
  |
|
Must Include Careful
Preparation
In the treatment of simple cases of PTSD, it is perhaps
possible to move quickly, to activating the traumatic
memory. In more complex cases, it should be part of a more
encompassing treatment model, with an eye on providing the patient with a
capacity to feel safe while accessing traumatic material. For the past century,
psychotherapeutic clinicians have basically adopted a
phase-oriented model that consists of (1) reintegration and
rehabilitation. In the first phase the foundation is
laid that enables patient to deal with the challenge of
confronting the trauma. The patient is helped with
establishing more stability and safety in daily life,
including social support, stress inoculation, ways of
controlling symptoms and ways of containing intrusive
memories.
Psychopharmacological management often is an integral part
of stabilization.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
