Transcript Slide 1

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Mother's Narratives of Trauma:
An exploratory study of how mothers’ narrate the impact of trauma on their families.
Dr. Stephen Coulter, Queens University Belfast &
Dr. Suzanne Mooney, Queens University Belfast
e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]
“…not all psychological injury can be
encompassed by a list of symptoms or disorders.
Trauma can alter the very meaning we give to our
lives, and can produce feelings and experiences
that are not easily categorised in diagnostic
manuals.” (Briere and Scott, 2006, p. 17)
Sample
The participants were a clinical sample
of 10 mothers who attended their initial
assessment interview at the Family
Trauma Centre. They were interviewed
prior to any psycho-education or
therapeutic intervention.
The Thesis
The experience of trauma has been overmedicalised and reduced to a relatively narrow
set of ‘symptoms’ associated with diagnostic
categories such as Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD) (van der Kolk, 2001; Papadopoulos, 2007).
Types of Trauma
Physical Assault
Intimidation
Family Trauma Centre
The Motivating Concern
This pathological conceptualisation strongly
influences mental health professionals’
interventions with victims/survivors of trauma,
which then have the potential to obscure
important dimensions of the phenomenological
experience of being traumatised that are
significant to the victim/survivors and their
families (Daley, 2004).
Final Analysis Framework
& Summary Results
Suicide
Witness to Shooting Overdose
Victim 34
PTSD Symptoms 48 (22.4%)
Mother 14
Victim 77
Whole Family Emotional Response 29
Sexual Assault
Home Attacked
The site for the study was a
regional trauma treatment centre
in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Rape
Individual Distress 214 (36.7%)
Psychological Distress 166 (77.6%)
Mother 89
Family Values Challenged 57
The Research Question
How do mothers in families in which a member
(or members) has experienced a traumatic
event narrate the impact of that event on them
and their family?
Methodology
The study used ‘Narrative Interviewing’
methodology (Jovchelovitch & Bauer, 2000). During the
initial assessment interview, the mother was
asked the following standard Single QUestion
aimed at Inducing Narrative(s) (SQUIN) question:
“Please tell me your story of how [the presenting
traumatic event] has affected you and your
family?”
Identified Losses 18
Negative Impact on Family Wellbeing 104 (42.1%)
-ve Changes in Communication 8
-ve Changes in Relationships 35
Negative Changes in Family Dynamics 43 (17.4%)
Family/Relational Distress 247 (42.4%)
Fam. Coping with Adverse Health 21
Associated Family Pressures 100 (40.5%)
Ongoing Harassment 64
Ongoing Criminal Proceedings 15
Individual Coping 41
Individual Resilience 47 (38.5%)
Individual Adversity Activated Development 6
Dyadic Coping 37
Resilience 122 (20.9%)
Dyadic Resilience 41
Relational Resilience 75 (61.5%)
Dyadic Adversity Activated development 4
Family Coping 27
Whole Family Resilience 34
Family Adversity Activated Development 7
Comment on Results
1. The study thesis is supported by the findings, i.e. that a primary focus on
PTSD symptoms (only 8.2% of the total relevant narrative content) misses
Each of the 10 recorded interviews were read
the complexity of the impact of traumatic life events on victims and their
independently by two researchers and the
families. This is supported by the fact that almost 80% of the ‘Individual
essential content of each sentence agreed. These
Distress’ category reflected common signs of psychological distress rather
were then independently arranged into subthan trauma specific PTSD symptoms.
themes and themes. The allocation of the various
2.
Reports
of
‘Family/Relational
Distress’
were
represented
more
strongly
content items to sub-themes and the sub-themes
than
those
of
‘Individual
Distress’
(42.4%
Vs
36.7%).
Similarly
instances
of
to themes was discussed by the two researchers
relational
and
whole
family
resilience
were
cited
considerably
more
often
for each case and definitions for the subthemes
than
individual
resilience,
i.e.
61.5%
compared
to
38.5%
of
the
resilience
and themes created. The results for each case
supra-theme.
were combined into an over-arching analytical
framework, which evolved over the course of the 3. These results (if replicated) raise questions regarding the re-balancing of
professional discourses on trauma and the nature of service provision for
analysis process. The 10 cases were revisited by
people who have experienced potentially traumatising experiences, in the
the researchers independently applying the final
light of narratives of the ontological experience.
analysis framework.
Analysis
References: Briere, J., & Scott, C. (2006). Principles of Trauma Therapy: A guide to symptoms, evaluation, and treatment. London: Sage. Daley, O. (2004).
PTSD and limitations to the current diagnostic system: A clinician’s viewpoint. Traumatic Stress Points, Northbrook, Illinois: ISTSS. Papadopoulos, R. (2007)
Refugees, trauma and Adversity-Activated Development. European Journal of Psychotherapy and Counselling, 9(3): 301–312. van der Kolk, B. A. (2001). The
assessment and treatment of complex PTSD. In. R. Yehuda (Ed.), Traumatic Stress. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press. Jovchelovitch,S & Bauer, M.
(2000). Narrative interviewing [online]. London: LSE Research Online. Available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/2633