Trauma
Written by Judith Willetts, Ph.D. and published on 21-May-2009.
When people suffer a traumatic event, they run the risk of suffering serious posttraumatic symptoms. However, research shows that treatment can help to minimize these symptoms. The treatment of recent trauma is quite straightforward. It involved the following steps:
FACTS: Tell the story of the event that occurred, focusing on the facts. This involves providing as many sensory details as possible. Tell what you saw, smelled, heard and felt. Focusing on these details helps a person deal with the initial shock by breaking the event down into smaller elements.
FEELINGS: Tell the facts and add in the feelings. This involves processing the various feelings as they shift from moment to moment in a trauma. Adding this element helps to deal with the denial that usually sets in after the initial shock.
FEEDBACK: The listener needs to give good nonverbal indications of attending. This involves making eye contact, leaning forward slightly and being open to hearing the difficult details being presented. Verbal statements involve prompts to have the person continue telling the story as well as statements affirming that this is indeed a traumatic event.
If you have suffered something traumatic, you will ultimately benefit from telling your story to trusted people repeatedly. If someone you know has suffered something traumatic, you can help her by going through this simple process. Contrary to popular belief, it is better for people to talk about difficult things than to try to shut them out.
How Do You Know If It’s Posttraumatic Stress Disorder?
The original traumatic event involved the person experiencing, witnessing or being confronted with an event that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury. The person’s response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror. Symptoms include persistent re-experiencing of the event through intrusive thoughts, dreams or flashbacks; persistent avoidance of things associated with the trauma and a general numbing of responsiveness; and, persistent symptoms of increased arousal such as difficulty sleeping, angry outbursts, and hyper-vigilance.
