Mothers and Children Together

Summary

Treatment groups for both mothers and children together who have experienced mother assault is a unique therapeutic milieu which has been underutilized in the treatment field. This article presents a 10-week feminist-informed family systems group model as part of a treatment approach for children exposed to family violence and can be used with families of children from pre-school to adolescence. This model provides a context in which the experience of family violence can be debriefed, and issues related to trauma, safety, secrecy, and post-abuse family restructuring can be addressed by family members together. In addition, play and art therapy based interventions are presented and are tailored for the beginning, middle, and end of the group process.     

The Need for a Continuum of Trauma Services

Summary

Since September 2000, residents of Israel have experienced a prolonged period of terrorist attacks that shows no sign of abating. The ramifications of the ongoing trauma permeate every facet of life. Since existing services provided by government and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are unable to meet the needs that have emerged, the Continuum of Trauma Services (CTS) was developed for victims of terrorist attacks, their families, friends, emergency and mental health professionals and the community at large. This article also describes the Israel Trauma Coalition and its interest groups, which may be seen as the embodiment of an evolving CTS.     

The Multidimensional Trauma Recovery and Resiliency Instrument

Abstract

This paper describes two studies leading to the construction of and psychometric support for the MTRR-99, a shortened version of the Multidimensional Trauma Recovery and Resiliency Scale (MTRR-135, formerly MTRR). In the first study, the original body of MTRR-135 data was reevaluated to remove psychometrically weak or theoretically unnecessary items. The remaining 99 items were then assessed for reliability, validity, and internal consistency. In the second study, the new MTRR-99 was applied to assess the recovery status of 164 incarcerated women prisoners with extensive abuse histories. Together, these two studies further document the utility of a multidimensional approach to assessing trauma impact, recovery, and resiliency; in addition, they provide preliminary evidence for the MTRR-99 as a viable measure for use with clinical and non-clinical populations.     

Like a Fish Out of Water: Reconsidering Disaster Recovery and the Role of Place and Social Capital in Community Disaster Resilience

In this paper we draw on the findings of a critical, multi-sited ethnographic study of two rural communities affected by a wildfire in British Columbia, Canada to examine the salience of place, identity, and social capital to the disaster recovery process and community disaster resilience. We argue that a reconfiguration of disaster recovery is required that more meaningfully considers the role of place in the disaster recovery process and opens up the space for a more reflective and intentional consideration of the disorientation and disruption associated with disasters and our organized response to that disorientation. We describe a social-psychological process, reorientation, in which affected individuals and communities navigate the psychological, social and emotional responses to the symbolic and material changes to social and geographic place that result from the fire's destruction. The reorientation process emphasizes the critical importance of place not only as an orienting framework in recovery but also as the ground upon which social capital and community disaster resilience are built. This approach to understanding and responding to the disorientation of disasters has implications for community psychologists and other service providers engaged in supporting disaster survivors. This includes the need to consider the complex dynamic of contextual and cultural factors that influence the disaster recovery process.     

Anxiety sensitivity and posttraumatic stress among traumatic event-exposed youth

Total and factor scores of the Childhood Anxiety Sensitivity Index (CASI) were examined in relation to posttraumatic stress symptom levels within a community-based sample of 68 (43 females) traumatic event-exposed youth between the ages of 10 and 17 years (M_age=14.74 years). Findings were consistent with hypotheses; global anxiety sensitivity (AS) levels, as well as disease, unsteady, and mental incapacitation concerns, related positively to posttraumatic stress levels, whereas social concerns were unrelated to symptom levels. These results suggest that fears of the physical and mental consequences of anxiety are associated with relatively higher levels of posttraumatic stress subsequent to traumatic event exposure. Findings are discussed in terms of potential implications for the role of AS in developmentally sensitive etiological models of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).     

The influence of data-driven processing on perceptions of memory quality and intrusive symptoms in children following traumatic events

Ehlers and Clark [(2000). A cognitive model of post-traumatic stress disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 319-345] cognitive model of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been relatively untested with children. Seventy-five children (7-16 years) were interviewed within 4 weeks of an injury that led to hospital treatment to examine whether peri-traumatic processing strategies (data-driven processing and fear) were associated with perceptions of memory quality and intrusive memories. Perceptions of memory quality mediated the relationship between data-driven processing and intrusive reactions but not avoidance, arousal or depressive reactions. Finally, the relationship between peri-event fear and intrusion reactions was mediated by perceptions of memory quality even after data-driven processing was controlled. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of a cognitive developmental model of PTSD in children.     

Treating family relational trauma: a recursive process using a decision dialogue

This article describes a therapeutic process that combines individual and family sessions to maximize therapeutic opportunities to bring forward, understand, validate, and empower children's experience as equal participants in family therapy. The aim is to strengthen relational bonds within the family. Drawing from earlier work with families where incest had occurred, the authors present a recursive process that utilizes a "decision dialogue" to link individual and family sessions. Clinical examples are provided.     

Fully Committed: Suicide Bombers' Motivation and the Quest for Personal Significance

A motivational analysis of suicidal terrorism is outlined, anchored in the notion of significance quest . It is suggested that heterogeneous factors identified as personal causes of suicidal terrorism (e.g. trauma, humiliation, social exclusion), the various ideological reasons assumed to justify it (e.g. liberation from foreign occupation, defense of one's nation or religion), and the social pressures brought upon candidates for suicidal terrorism may be profitably subsumed within an integrative framework that explains diverse instances of suicidal terrorism as attempts at significance restoration , significance gain , and prevention of significance loss . Research and policy implications of the present analysis are considered.     

Associations of Lifetime Depression with Trauma Exposure,Other Environmental Adversities,and Impairment in Adolescents with ADHD

Depression is a common, potentially devastating comorbidity in youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders (ADHD). Various environmental adversities are well-described as correlates of depression in general pediatric populations, but not in youth with ADHD. In 104 adolescents with ADHD, we examined potential environmental correlates of lifetime depression, including trauma exposure, recent negative life events and current parent-child conflict, along with current and past ADHD severity and current impairment. Controlling for demographic variables, comorbid disorders, and ADHD severity, we noted significant associations between lifetime depression and environmental adversities, including victimization trauma, parent-child conflict, and behaviorally-independent negative life events. Current impairment but not ADHD severity was also highly associated with lifetime depression, controlling for the same covariates. Findings from this preliminary, cross-sectional study suggest that environmental adversities and impairment in youth with ADHD should also be targeted along with the ADHD when contemplating strategies to treat or prevent comorbid depression.