Reflections of a Trauma Nurse/Counsellor’s Academic, Research & Clinical Experiences
Introduction to Psychotraumatology
I have decades of reflections I am ready to share concerning my academic, research and clinical experiences as the trauma nurse who became a trauma counsellor. However, a brief introduction into the emerging field of Psychotraumatology, as experienced by myself across North America, but mostly in Canada, is a good place to start.
I presented similar versions of the following brief, introductory material. The first was an in-service in acute psychiatry (Thompson, 2004), and the second was as a topic of interest, Harmony Project: Woman’s Support & Enhancement Group (Thompson, 2005), attended by survivors with diagnosed, Complex, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD; Herman, 1972).
From 1985 to 1996, I completed all requirements at-a-distance and obtained a PhD in Psychology. My dissertation was named Psychological Traumatology and a decade passed before the American Psychological Association (APA) founded Division 56 – Trauma Psychology (APA – 2006). In Canada in 1989, when I established a private practice to provide trauma, exit and grief nursing/counselling services, I was perceived as eccentric and fringe, especially when serving client(s) engaged and in the midst of volatile and hostile agendas and the use of coercive persuasion (Lifton, 1961).
Continue reading →
*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA
“True love is the best thing in the world, except for cough drops.”
