Supporting Technologies

Trauma -> About

Definitions

3130107397Trauma: The Greek word for “injured”. Often the result of an overwhelming amount of stress that exceeds one’s ability to cope or integrate the emotions involved with that experience. (Wikipedia)

Trauma: Experiences that cause intense physical and psychological stress reactions. “Trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being”. (SAMHSA)

Traumatology: The study, development and application of psychological and counseling services for people who have experienced extreme events. (Wikipedia)

Trauma Informed Care: A program, organization, or system that: 1) Realizes the widespread impact of trauma and understands potential paths for recovery; 2) Recognizes the signs and symptoms of trauma in clients, families, staff, and others involved with the system; 3) Responds by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices; and 4) Seeks to actively resist re-traumatization. (SAMHSA)

Types of Trauma

  • Disasters/Mass Trauma
  • Domestic Violence/Intimate Partner Violence
  • Political Violence/Torture
  • Sexual Assault/Rape
  • Combat Trauma
  • Historical Trauma
  • Cumulative Trauma

This YouTube video reviews “How Trauma Affects the Brain:”

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Risk Factors for Experiencing Trauma

Not all traumas are equally likely to result in a traumatic stress reaction, but the following ten factors contribute to greater risk:

  1. Female gender
  2. Lower socio-economic status
  3. Racial/ethnic minority status
  4. Less education
  5. Prior behavioral health disorders
  6. History of childhood abuse
  7. History of prior trauma
  8. Other ACEs (adverse childhood experiences)
  9. History of behavioral health disorders in one’s family
  10. Lack of social support

(Source: SAMHSA Trauma Informed Care Literature Review)

Risk Factors for PTSD

The following factors contribute to a greater risk of developing PTSD:

  1. A history of prior trauma
  2. Problems with behavioral health prior to the trauma (including preexisting mental disorders)
  3. A family history of behavioral health disorders
  4. A perceived threat to one’s life during the traumatic event
  5. Perceived social support following the trauma
  6. Intensely negative emotional responses immediately following the trauma (e.g., extreme fear, helplessness, horror, shame)
  7. Peritraumatic dissociation (i.e., dissociative experiences during or immediately following the trauma)

(Source: SAMHSA Trauma Informed Care Literature Review)3130118644

Protective Factors

There are “Five Children’s Protective Factors” identified by Resilience Trumps Aces:

  • Parental resilience
  • Social connections
  • Knowledge of parenting and child development
  • Concrete support in times of need
  • Children’s social and emotional development