Transcript Margot Cronin-Furman`s PowerPoint Presentation

Caring for the Trauma
Survivor
Margot Cronin-Furman, LICSW
Clinical Social worker
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
• What makes you nervous about doing Reiki
with trauma survivors?
• What makes you excited about working with
this population?
• Who here has had something bad happen to
them?
• What helped? What really didn’t help?
Our default setting is resilience.
PTSD
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Intrusion/ Re-experiencing
Avoidance
Negative alterations in cognitions and mood
Alterations in arousal and reactivity
How do people cope in the aftermath
of trauma?
Maladaptive Coping
• Numbing
• High risk behaviors
• Avoidance behaviors
Adaptive Coping
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Connection
Spiritual Practices/ Mindfulness
Perspective
Humor
Meaning making
Self care, positive self image
Seeking/ Engaging with formal treatment
Ameliorating factors
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Social supports/ connection
Basic needs met
Nature of trauma
Personality style
Other Themes
Feeling “stuck”
“Some people's lives seem to flow in a narrative;
mine had many stops and starts. That's what
trauma does. It interrupts the plot. You can't
process it because it doesn't fit with what came
before or what comes afterwards.”
― Jessica Stern
Other Themes
Control
Other Themes
“Shame is a soul eating emotion.”
– Carl Jung
Other Themes
Denial
“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the
oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages
the tormentor, never the tormented.”
― Elie Wiesel
Treatment
• Talk therapy
– EMDR, hypnosis, neurofeedback
• Body work
• Spiritual practices
• Advocacy engagement
How Reiki can be incorporated in the
healing journey
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Creating safety
Restoring control
Bearing witness
Symptom relief
Psychoeducation
“Our job is not to deny the story but to defy the
ending – to rise strong, recognize our story, and
rumble with the truth until we get to a place
where we think, ‘Yes, this is what happened.
This is my truth. And I will choose how this story
ends.’” – Brené Brown
Questions? Thoughts? Comments?
Selected References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA:
American Psychiatric Publishing.
Brown, B. (2012): Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and
Lead. New York City, NY: Gotham
Herman, J. (1992). Trauma and Recovery. New York, New York: Basic Books.
Levine, P. A. and Frederick, Ann. (1997). Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma. Berkley, California: North Atlantic Books.
Rothschild, B. (2000). The Body Remembers: The Psychophysiology of Trauma and Trauma Treatment. New York, New
York: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc.
Stern, J. (2010). Denial: A Memoir of Terror. New York, New York: Harper Collins.
Van Der Kolk, B. A. (2005). Developmental trauma disorder: Towards a rational diagnosis for children with complex
trauma histories. Psychiatric Annals, pp. 401-408.
The Trauma Center at the Justic Resource Institute http://www.traumacenter.org/index.php
The National Center for Trauma Informed Care http://www.samhsa.gov/nctic
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network http://www.nctsn.org/
Case Study
Maria is a 50yo woman who was hit by a car while crossing the
street 2 years ago. She broke her leg in two places and had several
broken ribs. She was hospitalized for two weeks and spent another
month in rehab re-learning to walk. While her physical recovery
went very well she has continued to have fear about crossing
streets, refuses to drive a car, and struggles to sleep due to
nightmares/insomnia. She describes feeling short of breath at
times without a medical cause. Her doctor prescribed her Ativan
(anti-anxiety medication) which she takes beyond the
recommended dose to combat these symptoms. Her family is
supportive but confused as to why she continues to behave so
irrationally this far out from the accident. In truth, she doesn’t
really understand what is happening to her either. She’s been
referred for Reiki but does not know much about it.
• How would you approach this patient?
• What would be important?
• What red flags would you look for?