Trauma-informed feminist therapy

Edit links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In psychology, Trauma-informed feminist therapy is a model of trauma for both men and women that incorporates the client's

sociopolitical
context.

In

social hierarchies.[1]

Background

The diagnosis of

symptomology
of veterans returning home from combat.

Feminist psychologists modified the diagnosis when treating patients with exposure to childhood sexual assault, chronic abuse, and gender-based trauma.[4] Trauma-informed feminist therapy challenged both the traditional conceptualization of the PTSD diagnosis, as well as the overall standard approach to trauma treatment, by proposing new models of trauma that incorporate sociopolitical context.[5]

Feminist therapy began in the 1960s during the second wave of feminism. According to its proponents, a sexist power structure in American psychotherapy was harmful to women suffering trauma. Initially, groups of women began to meet at leader-less "consciousness-raising," meetings where women shared their experiences with sexism in therapy. Many women evoked opinions that oppressive cultural norms affect mental health. To them, the groups acted as a way to both draw attention to the oppression within the mental health system, as well as a way to empower women.[6]

The original consciousness-raising meetings evolved into an integrated set of principles to be applied in therapy. Today, feminist therapy has expanded to reflect the ideas of the

third wave of feminism, that the patriarchy is harmful to both men and women.[7] Another part of feminist therapy is a focus on social justice issues for people, regardless of their gender, culture, sexuality, social class, phenotype, or national origin.[8]

Feminist models of trauma

Feminist theory argues that certain traumas are produced and maintained by institutionalized discrimination and social hierarchies

marginalized group and subjected to constant threat of discrimination.[9] Exposure to insidious trauma is thought to creates both unique vulnerabilities and unique strengths. Feminist theory argues that insidious traumatization can lead to full blown PTSD symptoms.[10]

Freyd (1996) expanded the idea of insidious traumatization to include the term "betrayal trauma," to describe the specific kind of trauma that occurs when a child is abused by their caregivers; Feminist theory argues that betrayal trauma is inherently different from single-incident trauma, mainly because betrayal trauma tends to manifest specifically as interpersonal difficulties and dissociative symptoms, while traditional intrusive symptoms are usually not present.[11]

Trauma diagnosis within feminist therapy framework

Overall, feminist theory argues against the use of diagnoses, except in instances where a

mental health care.[12]
Feminist therapy aims to move away from pathologizing responses to trauma in favor of framing responses as "survival techniques."

For example, in regard to diagnoses that relate to trauma, feminist theory takes issue with the diagnosis

normative and adaptive responses to betrayal trauma.[14]

In addition, feminist theory argues that chronic exposure to inescapable trauma, such as childhood abuse, is better captured by the diagnosis of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD);[15] CPTSD has been proposed as an alternative diagnosis for those responding to sever trauma with BPD-like symptoms, in an attempt to view symptoms as a survival response as opposed to a personality disorder.

Trauma treatment with feminist therapy framework

Trauma-informed feminist therapy encourages therapists to take an eclectic approach to trauma treatment, allowing the service user to be the expert of their own experience.[16][17] Feminist therapy seeks to break down what it terms the inherent power differential between clinician and client, by actively constructing an egalitarian relationship.[18]

In addition, feminist therapists strive to understand their client's experience with trauma by acknowledging and exploring how social structure influenced the trauma.[19] Trauma-informed feminist therapy argues that successful treatment is not about creating an absence of symptoms; instead feminist therapy aims to assist trauma survivors in creating a non-blaming view of their traumatic experience from which they can gain a sense of empowerment.[20]

References

  1. ^
    ISSN 0748-9633
    .
  2. ^ American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), 2011
  3. S2CID 145084764
    .
  4. S2CID 145458249
    .
  5. ISSN 1939-1536
    .
  6. S2CID 73036064
    .
  7. S2CID 49584616
    .
  8. ISBN 9781136624070
    .
  9. ^ Root, M.P. "Reconstructing the impact of trauma on personality". Personality and Psychopathology: Feminist Reappraisals: 229–265.
  10. S2CID 144094339
    .
  11. ^ Freyd, Jennifer (1996). Betrayal trauma: The logic of forgetting childhood abuse. Harvard University Press.
  12. PMID 22122419
    .
  13. PMID 32612335
    .
  14. ^ Kline, N. K., & Palm Reed, K. M. (2018). "Betrayal vs. nonbetrayal trauma: Examining the different effects of social support and emotion regulation on PTSD symptom severity". Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice and Policy. 28 (2): 441–462.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ISBN 978-0199744220
    .
  16. S2CID 56116587
    .
  17. S2CID 142569618
    .
  18. ISBN 978-0-19-974422-0. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help
    )
  19. ISBN 978-1-4338-2300-8
    , retrieved 2020-11-25
  20. S2CID 143761007
    .
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trauma-informed_feminist_therapy&oldid=1173665401"