Thirty years of trauma work: clarifying and broadening the consequences of trauma

Abstract

What is a trauma? The focus on trauma over the past thirty years has moved from a failure to acknowledge it as a formative influence in personality and behaviour to its present recognition as a primary influence. The field has moved also from a view that exposure to traumatic experiences would result inevitably in 'traumatisation' and a need for clinical help - which led to overenthusiastic counsellors forcing themselves on people who just needed time, space and security. We now know that only a proportion of those exposed to traumatic events develop symptoms of PTSD and associated clinical conditions, although this figure is higher in terrorist attacks. Rob Gordon highlights the problems for the field with a focus of most research and literature almost exclusively on PTSD. As a result many discussions of trauma are underpinned by a simplistic or fragmentary psychology, and techniques are developed that only focus on part of the person. Gordon explores the implications of this trend for treatment and argues for an approach that relies on a comprehensive psychology of the person and emphasises the importance of the social dimension. The notions of 'sensory' and 'informational' trauma are introduced, and helpful and hindering styles of social support are identified. (editor abstract)