"Good Morning, Monster" by Catherine Gildiner is a strongly written memoir that delves into the complexities of trauma, resilience, and the human psyche through the lens of a therapist's experiences with her clients. What interested me most about his book is how well Gildiner's narratives intertwine with the themes and insights presented in the article "Trauma Treatment: The Need for Ongoing Innovation" by Laura S. Brown. Through an analysis of both texts, I was able to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and strategies involved in trauma treatment and the journey toward healing. One aspect of the book that resonated deeply with me was its exploration of the complexities of trauma recovery. Both "Good Morning, Monster" and "Trauma Treatment: The …show more content…
Instead, she advocates for a more expansive and integrative framework that encompasses the interplay of biology, psychology, and social context in understanding and addressing trauma. By embracing this holistic perspective, therapists can tailor interventions to the unique needs and experiences of each individual, fostering a more comprehensive and effective approach to trauma recovery. This call for ongoing innovation reflects a growing recognition within the field of psychology of the need to continually evolve and refine our understanding and treatment of trauma to better support survivors on their journey toward healing and resilience. As I reflected on the narratives within the book and the insights presented in the article, I couldn't help but feel a sense of hope and inspiration. One of the central themes of both texts is the resilience of the human spirit in the face of trauma. Gildiner's clients exemplify the capacity for resilience as they confront their past traumas and work toward
The trauma-informed care lab was a very impactful experience for me as a student pharmacist and as a person. Prior to the lab, I have always believed that childhood experiences can influence a person’s outcome as an adult. While this belief humanizes those, who have made poor choices in life, it is difficult for me to vindicate every case I see. However, after seeing the statistical facts from the ACE study and especially the movie Healing Neen, I found it easier to show empathy and understanding to those who made those choices.
Robinett, Jane. "The Narrative Shape of Traumatic Experience." Literature & Medicine 26, no. 2 (Fall2007 2007): 290-311.
... Joyce Dorado. "Who Are We, But For The Stories We Tell: Family Stories And Healing." Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, And Policy 2.3 (2010): 243-249. PsycARTICLES. Web. 2 May 2014.
Traumatic events occur in all shapes and sizes. Traumatic events can influence a person’s life either in a positive way or a negative way. People can either make the best of what happened to them, or fall into a dark spiral downward—leaving some anxious or depressed. In the case of the Jeannette Walls, she tells the story of her ever chaotic and traumatic life as a child and young adolescent. Throughout her life she was exposed to being on fire, sexual assault, domestic violence, and many more traumatizing incidents. While these events are highly stressful and can cause severe mental problems, within the exposed person, Jeannette had the resilience to overcome and grow from the experiences her past had left her with.
Ellis, B. H., Fogler, J., Hansen, S., Forbes, P., Navalta, C. P., & Saxe, G. (2012). Trauma systems therapy: 15-month outcomes and the importance of effecting environmental change. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 4(6), 624-630. doi:10.1037/a0025192
The “Trauma” is a. It doesn't eke itself out over time. It doesn’t split itself manageably into bite-sized chunks and distribute it equally throughout your life. Trauma is all or nothing. A tsunami wave of destruction. A tornado of unimaginable awfulness that whooshes into your life - just for one key moment - and wreaks such havoc that, in just an instant, your whole world will never be the same again”(Holly Bourne, The Manifesto on How to be Interesting).
Hunt, N.C. and McHale, S. (2010) Understanding Post Traumatic Stress. London: Sheldon Press, pp. 13-25.
a Humanistic Approach to Trauma Intervention. Journal Of Humanistic Counseling, Education And Development, 46(2), 172.
Schiraldi, G. R. (2009). The post-traumatic stress disorder sourcebook: A guide to healing, recovery, and growth. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Judith Herman, from Trauma and Recovery, said “Traumatic events are extraordinary, not because they occur rarely, but rather because they overwhelm the ordinary human adaptations to life” (John A. Rich, Theodore Corbin, & Sandra Bloom, 2008. Trauma does not involve the same experiences for everyone; each individual is unique in that they, and only they, can decide what is traumatic for them. Before discussing what positive things can come from suffering a traumatic experience, one must first understand that negative things can arise as well. Trauma “shatters people’s basic assumptions about themselves and the world they live in”. Three basic assumptions are challenged by trauma: (1) the belief in personal invulnerability; (2) the perception of the world as meaningful and comprehensible; and (3) the view of ourselves in a positive light” (Baumgardner & Crothers, 2009, p. 67)....
The most difficult thing for most first responders to accept is the reality of living with posttraumatic stress disorder (Gilmartin, K. M., 2002). The traumatic event and the disorder change the way they see the world. The world changes from the way they saw it before the event to a dangerous, unpredictable, and threatening place (Gilmartin, K. M., 2002). The one thing first responders need to do in order to renew their corrupted mentality of the planet, is to be removed from their world and work life from time to time (Shin, L. M., 2009). Living love, selflessly giving, and serving others truly does heal the spirit and are extremely powerful in overcoming depression, isolation, emotional pain, and self-destructive tendencies (Shin, L. M., 2009).
The weight of constantly listening to difficult, harrowing, and upsetting events in other people’s lives can have negative impacts on therapists, especially for those who are inadequately trained or who have poor coping mechanisms. While most therapists deal with this strain, it is particularly true of those who work consistently work with patients who have experienced trauma. Trauma refers to an individual's exposure to actual or threatened harm, fear of death or injury, or witnessing violence. Common forms of trauma seen in therapy environments are rape, abuse, victims of crimes, accidents, and disasters. Trauma work requires specialized training and support in order to be effective for the clients and to help to deal with, minimize, and
Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) describes the phenomenon of traumatized people growing – becoming stronger, healthier, happier, and in all aspects better – as a result of their traumatic experiences. PTG can be expressed as the improvement experienced in various facets of one’s life and self, as a result of having struggled with trauma. Calhoun and Tedeschi began asking, in the 1980s, about the possibility of people growing from their traumatic experiences. Tedeschi and Calhoun describe PTG as ‘positive psychological change experienced as a result of the struggle with highly challenging life circumstances’. Put differently, ‘posttraumatic growth is positive change that the individual experiences as a result of the struggle with a traumatic event’. The end result is that growth can occur after trauma. The key to the growth is struggle; the individual experiences growth after much struggle with the trauma to find its particular meaning and purpose, with a new worldview to better make sense of the traumatic experience. Trauma leads to struggle with painful experiences and suffering through the symptoms that consequently
Trauma is a psychological reaction to sudden traumatic events and overwhelming issues from outside. Additionally, the exposure to activities that are outside the human’s normal experiences. Traumatic events become external and incorporate into the mind (Bloom, 1999, p. 2). Traumatization happens when the internal and external forces do not appropriately cope with the external threat. Furthermore, trauma causes problems because the client’s mind and body react in a different way and their response to social groups. The symptoms of trauma relate to irritability, intrusive thoughts, panic and anxiety, dissociation and trance-like states, and self-injurious behaviors (Bloom, 1999, p. 2). Childhood trauma happens when they live in fear for the lives of someone they love (Bloom, 1999, p. 2). Judith Herman’s trauma theory states that the idea of repressed memories relates to unconscious behavior. These repressed behaviors include those inhibited behaviors relate to memories of childhood abuse. From McNally’s point of view memories of trauma cannot be repressed especially those that are more violent (Suleiman, 2008, p. 279). In addition, one of the theories used to dealing with trauma includes the coping theory. With situations, people tend to use problem-solving and emotion-focused coping. Emotion-focused coping happens when people are dealing with stressors. When the stressors become more
One of the factors that influence a victim’s ability to cope is the degree of the threat to life and depth of physical injury incurred during the crime (Cook, David & Grant, 1999). A victim would have a more difficult time adjusting to life and coping after a crime when the possibility of death was eminent. Here, the level of trauma would be immense when they narrowly escape death. The same applies when there is a lot of physical injury. The rationale for this is that one would be reminded of what happened all the time, which makes it harder for them to cope.