Post-Traumatic Stress: Psychological Therapies for Prevention and Treatment - Essay Sample

Introduction

A bibliographic review of the existing literature has acknowledged the rising incidents of mostly young people suffering from Post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD). The study has briefly addressed various concepts related to trauma and its prevention through the use of psychological therapies. Various psychological therapies such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) have had a significant impact on patients with notable limitations depending on the triggers of trauma.

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The effectiveness of psychological therapies and approaches highlights the significance of developing resilience among the patients as a way of dealing with traumatic events. While some psychotherapies have not demonstrated substantial efficacy when it comes to the treatment and prevention of PTSD, current research on PTSD and related modalities highlights the need to focus on high-quality trials to evaluate such effectiveness for both the children and adolescents who have been exposed to trauma. Therefore, therapists must be aware of our limitations, since the ideal would be to work under a systemic approach in which the family, school, community, society in general, and the government participate through measures of social protection. Unfortunately, the main traumatic events are related to problems of violence and relational trauma. The consequences of this trauma are well known ranging from high comorbidity, substance abuse, violence, problems of integration into society, among others.

Although we know the origin of the trauma and the importance of secure attachment, we must continue to provide solutions since we live in a culture of violence, a violence that has a triple dimension: the direct one, the most evident, through physical, verbal or psychological aggression, together with the less evident structural and cultural violence that is characteristic of the social and economic systems that govern our society. Currently, there is a lot of structural violence in our laws and there must be policies to help the family, focused on the needs of children. We must educate people who are safe and connected with others, and for this, care during childhood is a key point. If children are the future, they must grow up in a safe environment, where they feel important and loved.

In the United States where family support is scarce, some of the highest crime rates occur. For example, 70% of California prisoners grew up in foster homes (Van der Kolk, 2015). This ultimately translates into higher expenses for the state, as jailing people is more expensive than investing in helping parents offer their children a safe environment. The family is a key protection factor, and it becomes a fundamental place in which to intervene through psychological therapy.

The school is another important protective factor. Understanding, identifying, and possessing sensitivity to the signs and manifestations of trauma becomes especially important when working with children and adolescents in whom trauma can manifest through behavioral problems. This is why it is so important that professionals in the educational field have information about trauma to detect it early or avoid re-trauma. In the United States, there is a network of Trauma-Informed Schools, where adults have the necessary training to be able to recognize and respond to stressful situations that may arise among students.

Dealing with trauma requires a protocol of good practices for those professionals who have daily interaction with people who are going through or have suffered traumatic processes. These good trauma practices must be spread and implemented in different contexts such as children's homes, schools, hospitals, centers for the care of abused women, and residences for the homeless among others. Undoubtedly, the incorporation of these practices in institutions could help create trauma awareness and help develop skills to strengthen people in these difficult situations, collaborating in their resilient process.

Therefore, a fundamental part of the therapies must be in prevention. Patients must generate self-care spaces, meeting places with oneself where they can make contact with the emotions they are feeling, being able to integrate and address them. The new lines of studies on health lead us precisely to this field, caring, exercising, preventing, to avoid more serious health problems. Stress, overwork or not having it, multiple adverse circumstances lead us to deny our internal emotions and not to offer ourselves spaces for our self-care and social well-being. We must create networks, spend time with family and friends, share emotions, and enjoy those little pleasures that make life worth living.

Research on the development of PTSD has also affirmed that the family constitutes the first instance of socialization and the institution that globally has more influence on the formation and development of children and young people. It is within this institution that these children and young people, through learning and observing the behaviors of adults, are trained or reflected in their caregivers to live in society and to adequately or erroneously face the new situations that will occur throughout life. Hence the attention of the family as the primary agent is a fundamental preventive measure in the programs of dealing with PTSD. The family is capable of negatively or positively influencing the healthy or pathological development, balanced or unbalanced of its members, which reveals the need to affirm it so that coexistence within it becomes the closest to a protective source. Therefore, it is of great importance to establish an adequate therapeutic alliance between the patient and the therapist, since this enables and facilitates the application of rehabilitation techniques that help modify thoughts, emotions, and behaviors linked to PTSD, thus facilitating the management of panic, anger, and anxiety.

Without a doubt, the focus on prevention, personal improvement and self-care are opening new places in psychology. Therefore, therapists must be able to create a sense of psychological security, regulation of emotions, work through coping, and promote resilience to deal with traumatic experiences. It is a challenge for psychologists to continue making our way and contributing to research and practice to shed light on these modalities to contribute to effective treatment and prevention of trauma.