What is Trauma Therapy Like? Part 1: Less Talking and More Doing

Freud called psychoanalysis the third impossible profession (the other two being education and government). It may be as valid to say that psychotherapy is another impossible profession. Many therapists desire to master several of the countless therapeutic modalities available today in their endless pursuit to feel more adept at offering hope, especially to the large number of individuals looking to alleviate the despair rooted in the experience of traumatization. Trauma therapy requires mastering several modalities and unlearning most of what therapy was before. Not “impossible” but definitely a fascinating and arduous journey for the therapist — and for clients.  I wonder how therapists felt when psychoanalysis (and behaviorism) dominated the world of psychotherapy all through the first half of the twentieth century. I picture the beginning of this contest developing as the paradigm shifted to a person-centered school, and the appearance of humanistic psychological therapies in the 1950s and 60s. That, in tandem with the emergence of psychotropics and closing of mental institutions, must have been the reason why a revolution in the treatment of mental illness kicked off. We are now in a very important moment in the history of psychotherapy, confronting another paradigm shift: traumatization. Foderaro (1995) stated it beautifully: “the fundamental shift in providing support using a trauma-informed approach is to move from thinking ‘What is wrong with you?’ t...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Abuse PTSD Trauma Treatment Violence & Aggression C-PTSD complex trauma Neurobiology Trauma Therapy Traumatic Experience traumatice memories Source Type: news