Features of Working With Trauma Victims

A traumatic event can cause emotional damage to its participants, even if it did not lead to physical injury. A remarkable result of dramatic events is the loss of the ability to overcome stress. Service professionals who assist survivors of trauma play an essential role, as they help people survive stress. There are certain features in working with trauma victims, which will be discussed in this paper.

Medical personnel is constantly at risk of becoming a party to the conflict. Victims of domestic violence often do not tell the truth for fear of losing parental rights or revenge from a partner (Márquez, Deblinger & Dovi, 2020). Medical professionals should be a lifeline for such patients, provide them with the necessary information, and help negotiate with the justice system. It is essential that medical professionals know the signs of domestic violence and take appropriate measures, even despite the victim’s fear. It is also vital for a medical employee to be well trauma-informed in working with children. If an atmosphere of safety and trust is not created for the child, the chance of repeated traumatization is high.

There are several approaches when working with a patient who has experienced a strong emotional shock. A psychodrama would be chosen as the strategy determining secondary interventions (Orkibi, 2019). A person who wants to understand a problematic situation dramatizes it, not the problem itself that unfolds on the psychodramatic stage. Art therapy would be chosen as a strategy affecting tertiary interventions. This direction is based on teaching patients visual creativity, a form of psychological influence with the help of artistic creativity (Karcher, 2017). Art therapy has no restrictions and contraindications, is always resource-based, and is used in almost all areas of psychotherapy, in pedagogy, social work, and business.

The psychodrama strategy was chosen because it is a holistic technique effective for a wide range of problems. It is a helpful approach for people who have experienced severe emotional trauma, loss, or addiction. This strategy makes it possible to realize and accept feelings, form a new view of the situation, and complete unfinished actions. The method of art therapy was chosen because it is a natural and gentle method of healing and developing the soul through artistic creativity, actively developing as a complex of psychotherapeutic techniques. This strategy allows a person to feel and understand himself and free himself from conflicts and strong emotions.

References

Karcher, O. P. (2017). Sociopolitical oppression, trauma, and healing: Moving toward a social justice art therapy framework. Art Therapy, 34(3), 123-128. Web.

Márquez, Y. I., Deblinger, E., & Dovi, A. T. (2020). The value of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) in addressing the therapeutic needs of trafficked youth: A case study. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 27(3), 253-269. Web.

Orkibi, H., & Feniger-Schaal, R. (2019). Integrative systematic review of psychodrama psychotherapy research: Trends and methodological implications. PloS one, 14(2), Web.