SocialWorkSynergy

compiled by Pat Shelly

 

Part One: Clinical Titles on Trauma and Treatment

 

Do you want to advance your knowledge of trauma this summer? Have you been meaning to actually read a classic in the field, such as Herman’s Trauma and Recovery? Do you find learning about a clinical condition is enriched through fictional accounts?

 

Then I have two lists for you! This week, I offer a dozen titles on clinical aspects of trauma.

 

Culled from reading lists, online discussion groups, and recommendations from University at Buffalo faculty, I gave priority to those titles from major academic social work publishers. The list reflects a range of disciplines among its authors. Of note: the most recent titles include special attention to issues with those who served in the military and military families.

 

 

Part Two: Trauma in Fiction will be posted on August 13th. Novels often include critical social and political issues, and some even include characters who are social workers.

 

I hope you find this list useful and that your summer allows lots of time for reading!

 

 

 

Clinical Titles

 

Cohen, J.A., Mannarino, A.P., and Deblinger, E. (Eds.). (2012). Trauma-focused CBT for children and adolescents: Treatment applications. New York: Guilford Press.

“Featuring a wealth of clinical examples, this book facilitates implementation of trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) in a range of contexts. It demonstrates how assessment strategies and treatment components can be tailored to optimally serve clients’ needs while maintaining overall fidelity to the TF-CBT model. Coverage includes ways to overcome barriers to implementation in residential settings, foster placements, and low-resource countries. Contributors also describe how to use play to creatively engage kids of different ages, and present TF-CBT applications for adolescents with complex trauma, children with developmental challenges, military families struggling with the stresses of deployment, and Latino and Native American children.”

 

Figley, C.R. and Kiser, L.J. (2013). Helping traumatized families (2nd edition) . New York: Routledge.

“The new edition of this classic not only offers clinicians a unified, evidence-based theory of the systemic impact of traumatic stress—it also details a systematic approach to helping families heal by promoting their natural healing resources. Though the impact of trauma on a family can be growth producing, some families either struggle or fail to adapt successfully. [This volume] guides practitioners around common pitfalls and toward a series of evidence-based strategies that they can use to help families feel empowered and ultimately to thrive by developing tools for enhancing resilience and self-regulation.”

 

 

Foa, E.B., Keane, T.M., Friedman, M.J. and Cohen, J.A. (2010). Effective treatments for PTSD (2nd edition): Practice guidelines from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. New York: Guilford Press

“Developed under the auspices of the PTSD Treatment Guidelines Task Force of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, this tightly edited work is the definitive best-practice reference for practitioners caring for any trauma population. Leading clinical scientists thoroughly review the literature on widely used therapeutic approaches for both adults and children. Succinct treatment guidelines are presented that feature standardized ratings of the evidence for each approach. The book also offers insightful guidance to help clinicians select the most suitable therapy for particular patients and overcome frequently encountered obstacles.”

 

Ford, J.D. and Courtois, C.A. (Eds.). (2013) Treating complex traumatic stress disorders in children and adolescents: Scientific foundations and therapeutic models. New York: Guilford Press.

“With contributions from prominent experts, this pragmatic book takes a close look at the nature of complex psychological trauma in children and adolescents and the clinical challenges it presents. Each chapter shows how a complex trauma perspective can provide an invaluable unifying framework for case conceptualization, assessment, and intervention amidst the chaos and turmoil of these young patients’ lives. A range of evidence-based and promising therapies are reviewed and illustrated with vivid case vignettes. The volume is grounded in clinical innovations and cutting-edge research on child and adolescent brain development, attachment, and emotion regulation, and discusses diagnostic criteria, including those from DSM-IV and DSM-5.”

 

Greenwald, R. (2005). The child trauma handbook : A guide for treating trauma-exposed children and adolescents. New York: Routledge.

“This is a comprehensive plain-language guide to treatment of trauma-exposed children and adolescents and those with trauma or loss-related issues. This no-nonsense manual helps the reader understand how and why kids’ behaviors can be related to their history of trauma while teaching practical hands-on, clinical skills and interventions.”

 

 

 

Harris, M. and Fallot, R.D. (Eds.) (2001). Using trauma theory to design service systems: New directions for mental health services, number 89. New York: Wiley Press.

“This volume identifies the essential elements necessary for a system to begin to integrate an understanding about trauma into its core service programs. The fundamental elements of a trauma-informed system are identified and the necessary supports for bringing about system change are highlighted. The basic philosophy of trauma-informed practice is then examined across several specific service components: assessment and screening, inpatient treatment, residential services, addictions programming, and case management. Modifications necessary to transform a current system into a trauma-informed system are discussed in great detail as well as the changing roles of consumers and providers.”

 

Herman, J.L. (1997). Trauma and recovery: The aftermath of violence – from domestic violence to political terror.  New York: Basic Books.

“First published in 1992, this was a ground-breaking work. Herman’s volume changed the way we think about and treat traumatic events and trauma victims. In a new 1997 afterword, Herman chronicles the incredible response the book has elicited and explains how the issues surrounding the topic have shifted within the clinical community and the culture at large. It shows the parallels between private terrors such as rape and public traumas such as terrorism. The book puts individual experience in a broader political frame, arguing that psychological trauma can be understood only in a social context. Meticulously documented and frequently using the victims’ own words as well as those from classic literary works and prison diaries, Trauma and Recovery is a powerful work that will continue to profoundly impact our thinking.”

 

 

 

Herman, J.L. (1992) Complex PTSD: A syndrome in survivors of prolonged and repeated trauma. In Journal of Traumatic Stress, 5(3) pp. 377-391.

“This paper reviews the evidence for the existence of a complex form of post-traumatic disorder in survivors of prolonged, repeated trauma. This syndrome is currently under consideration for inclusion in DSM-IV under the name of DESNOS (Disorders of Extreme Stress Not Otherwise Specified). The current diagnostic formulation of PTSD derives primarily from observations of survivors of relatively circumscribed traumatic events. This formulation fails to capture the protean sequelae of prolonged, repeated trauma. In contrast to a single traumatic event, prolonged, repeated trauma can occur only where the victim is in a state of captivity, under the control of the perpetrator. The psychological impact of subordination to coercive control has many common features, whether it occurs within the public sphere of politics or within the private sphere of sexual and domestic relations.”

 

Najavits, L. (2001). Seeking safety: A treatment manual for PTSD and substance abuse. New York: Guilford Press.

“This manual presents the first empirically studied, integrative treatment approach developed specifically for PTSD and substance abuse. For persons with this prevalent and difficult-to-treat dual diagnosis, the most urgent clinical need is to establish safety–to work toward discontinuing substance use, letting go of dangerous relationships, and gaining control over such extreme symptoms as dissociation and self-harm. The manual is divided into 25 specific units or topics, addressing a range of different cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal domains. Each topic provides highly practical tools and techniques to engage patients in treatment; teach “safe coping skills” that apply to both disorders; and restore ideals that have been lost, including respect, care, protection, and healing. Structured yet flexible, topics can be conducted in any order and in a range of different formats and settings. The volume is designed for maximum ease of use with a large format, lay-flat binding, and helpful reproducible therapist sheets and handouts.”

 

 

Rubin, A. and Springer, B., Eds. (2009). Treatment of traumatized adults and children: Clinician’s guide to evidence-based practice.  Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Press.

“Evidence-based interventions for treating traumatized adults and children: Part of the Clinician’s Guide to Evidence-Based Practice Series, Treatment of Traumatized Adults and Children provides busy mental health practitioners with detailed, step-by-step guidance for implementing clinical interventions that are supported by the latest scientific evidence. This thoroughly useful reference draws on a roster of experts and researchers in the field who have assembled state-of-the-art knowledge into this well-rounded guide, and covers the following interventions that have the best empirical support for treating posttraumatic stress disorder:

– Prolonged exposure therapy

-Trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy

-Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

Easy-to-use and accessible in tone, this indispensable resource is for practitioners who would like to implement evidence-based, compassionate, and effective interventions in their care of traumatized clients.”

 

 

Russell, M.C. and Figley, C.R. (2012) Treating traumatic stress injuries in military personnel: An EMDR practitioner’s guide. New York: Routledge.

“[This guide] offers a comprehensive treatment manual for mental health professionals treating traumatic stress injuries in both male and female veterans. It is the first book to combine the most recent knowledge about new paradigms of combat-related traumatic stress injuries and offers a practical guide for treating the spectrum of traumatic stress injuries with EMDR, which has been recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense clinical practice guidelines as one of the most studied, efficient, and particularly well-suited evidence-based treatments for military-related stress injuries. [The book will] introduce an array of treatment innovations designed especially for use with military populations, and readers will find pages filled with practical information, including appendices [with] a glossary of military terminology, breakdowns of rank and pay grades, and various clinical forms.”

 

 

Scaer, R. (2014). The body bears the burden: Trauma, dissociation and disease (3rd edition).  New York: Guilford Press.

“When The Body Bears the Burden made its debut in 2001, it changed the way people thought about trauma, PTSD, and the treatment of chronic stress disorders. Now in its third edition, this revered text offers a fully updated and revised analysis of the relationship between mind, body, and the processing of trauma. Here, clinicians will find detailed, thorough explorations of some of neurobiology’s fundamental tenets, the connections between mind, brain, and body, and the many and varied ways that symptoms of traumatic stress become visible to those who know to look for them.”

 

 

 

 

 

Watch for Part Two: Trauma in Fiction on August 13th!

 

Do you have any additions to these lists? Add under Comments below!

 

 

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The body bears the burden: Trauma, dissociation, and disease (3rd edition)

The child trauma handbook : A guide for treating trauma-exposed children and adolescents

Effective treatments for PTSD (2nd edition): Practice guidelines from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies

Helping traumatized families (2nd edition)

Seeking safety: A treatment manual for PTSD and substance abuse

Treating complex traumatic stress disorders in children and adolescents: Scientific foundations and therapeutic models

Treating traumatic stress injuries in military personnel: An EMDR practitioner’s guide

Treatment of traumatized adults and children: Clinician’s guide to evidence-based practice

Trauma and recovery: The aftermath of violence – from domestic violence to political terror

Trauma-focused CBT for children and adolescents: Treatment applications

 Using trauma theory to design service systems: New directions for mental health services, number 89