Page 204 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 5

Trauma Recovery Training at a Seminary? Introducing Global Trauma Recovery Institute

selor would do well to avoid frequent interrup-
Stay in the present. PTSD is marked by intru- tions of client’s story-telling activities. Overly-
sive memories of traumatic experiences cau- directive requests for historical details, pushing
sing the individual to alternately relive painful to the client to speak when silent, or any explicit
events and yet at the same time seek to avoid or implicit avoidance of painful emotions must
any and all reminders of the trauma. This pro- also be avoided.
cess of reliving and disconnecting from trauma Along with considerations about the speed
memories results in dissociative experiences— and intensity of trauma memory processing,
disconnecting from the here and now. It can counselors also work to ensure that the trauma
look like “spacing out” and not remembering memory work begins and ends at safe places.
what just happened to feeling things are unreal These safe places may include present realities
to having an out-of-body experience. Such re- (e.g., recognition that the client is no longer in
sponses may be adaptive during ongoing trau- an abusive relationship, opportunities for joy,
ma (e.g., enables the person not to feel the full or responsibilities for the day) or historical facts
effects of the experience) and even effective to (e.g., recollection of efforts made to save a fri-
stop painful reminders of past trauma. But later end during a violent attack). When a client is
it prevents recovery because it inhibits facing able to begin and end trauma work at emotio-
hard things as well as keeps one from doing ac- nally safe points, it also reinforces that he or she
tivities that require attention. Effective therapy, is able to choose when and how long to engage
then, provides opportunity to engage trauma difficult memories outside of therapy. There-
memories from the relative safety of the pre- fore, a competent trauma counselor helps the
sent. Thus, therapists do well to monitor signs client choose safe images, ideas, and activities
of dissociation during counseling sessions and to transition to before the end of each trauma
use grounding techniques to minimize discon- processing session.
necting from reality. Grounding techniques in-
clude the use of the five senses to maintain con- Be content with incomplete stories. Most
nection to the present and so doing stay focused counselors assume that if a portion of the trau-
on the external world (e.g., noticing items in the ma story is avoided or not told the client will
office, a picture on the wall, the sound of the suffer in some way. This bit of conventional wis-
counselor’s voice, etc.). These techniques should dom may sometimes be true if the reason for
be practiced first in the counseling space but not telling is denial of the story. A better way to
also at home since trauma triggers likely exist think about the process of storytelling is to see it
in many places. in the context of three goals, (a) acknowledging
losses, (b) identifying and fostering resiliency,
Emphasize pacing and safety. The pace at and (c) regaining meaning for life (Lieblich &
which a client tells/examines the details of their Boskailo, 2012, p. 94). While identifying losses
trauma story varies on the basis of client capa- usually include telling the trauma story, it does
city to avoid dissociation, level of shame, and not mean the entire story needs to be told. The
the complexity and length of the trauma expe- counselor’s job is to listen well enough to know
rience. Whenever possible, the client should what is important to the client, what needs to be
choose the pace of trauma processing, while said and what can remain unsaid. A counselor
the counselor provides encouragement to slow supports the healing process by giving the client
the pace if the client appears to either race to the right to not tell any portion of the story. Any
get the storytelling over or begins to dissociate. force, manipulation, and pressure to disclose a
Concerns the counselor has about pacing can trauma story, no matter how well-intended,
be handled by reviewing the purpose of telling merely re-enacts the abuse experience. Silence
the trauma story (i.e., to explore meaning and may in fact be a form of “bearing witness” to
impact of the trauma and to explore hidden evi- unspoken losses. For example, psychiatrist and
dence of resilience and strength) and how it fits torture survivor Esad Boskailo recounts how
into the recovery process. However, the coun- despite many visits and invitations to speak,

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