Post-Traumatic Growth

Co-production is gaining ground as a key dimension of public policy reform across the globe. This paper argues in favour of social welfare shaped by the principles of co-production and suggests that the promotion of democratic relationships is more likely to enable the agency and recovery of victim-survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The paper, based on an autoethnographical approach, is likely to be of relevance to social care practitioners who work with a range of marginalised people, particularly in liberal states that promote organisational cultures shaped disproportionately by risk. Cultures of risk, it is argued, promote power balances and othering—arguably an institutional perpetuation of the original abuse. Co-production, on the other hand, has the potential to legitimise expertise by experience, enabling victim-survivors to be reinstated as citizens with associated rights of participation. The paper subsequently draws out some of the benefits of co-production for practitioners whose professional engagement may be stifled. We suggest that co-production potentially points towards practice based on the valuing of expertise by experience and social solidarity.

Background and Objectives: Cancer caregivers are at risk for experiencing health issues due to the stress of caregiving. Despite this, it is possible to prompt adaptive coping during the cancer experience. Adaptive coping is associated with improved health for caregiver populations. Forms of emotional disclosure are associated with caregiver reports of post-traumatic growth (PTG), which is an adaptive coping mechanism that comprises positive change following trauma. This study sought to identify areas of PTG identified by spousal hematopoietic stem-cell transplant (HSCT) cancer caregivers, via emotional disclosure writings. Design & Method: Twenty-two spousal caregivers of patients who underwent a (HSCT) submitted emotional disclosure writings three times at one-week intervals. Writings centered on positive outcomes arising in light of the cancer experience. A qualitative grounded theory approach was used to evaluate caregiver accounts of PTG that arose while caring for their spouse. Results & Conclusions: Findings suggest seven areas of PTG recognized through the disclosure process: living in the moment, a sense of honor and pride, choosing positivity, uninfluenced self-choice and expression, deprioritizing materialism, personal and/or spiritual connection, and altruistic expansion. The primary theoretical advancement arising from this study includes the notion that PTG largely appears to be a socially dependent process.

This qualitative study aimed to explore the potential role that might be played by reported experience of ‘sensing the presence of the deceased’ in meaning-making processes in bereavement. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve participants who reported having had such an experience and the transcripts were subjected to thematic analysis. Seven overarching themes were identified, three of which were considered central: ‘finding benefit in the continuation of the deceased’, ‘finding benefit in the continued relationship’, and ‘finding meaning through existential, spiritual, and religious sense-making’. While participants found many benefits in what they experienced, finding meaning beyond immediate coping seemed to require the availability of spiritual/religious frameworks which could be adopted or, if available but discrepant, could meaningfully accommodate the experience.

Self-care is fundamental to mental health practitioner training and professional efficacy.  Expressive writing about stressful events has been researched and shown to have positive physical and psychological effects. Mindfulness, an embodied approach to clinical practice and education, has also been studied and documented as an effective self-care approach.  Embodied education integrates experiential history with current learning, which may influence future practitioner performance and client outcomes.  This self-care exercise is designed to promote awareness and acceptance among counselors and counselors-in-training, as well as among clients, through use of a mindfulness-oriented written self-disclosure task that may facilitate meaning-making, and may enhance psychological well-being and therapeutic efficacy.  It aligns with CACREP and ACA Code of Ethics standards addressing counselor self-care as a necessary facet of ethical practice.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of positive and negative religious coping with posttraumatic symptoms (PTS) and growth (PTG). Their moderating role was also examined among predictors such as social support and the subjective severity of event with PTS and PTG. Two hundred and eleven Chilean adults (58.3% women) of 18 years and older who had been exposed to highly stressful were surveyed. The Brief-RCOPE, the Brief-COPE subscale of social support, the Subjective Severity of Event Scale, and a socio-demographic questionnaire were used as measurements at time one. The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory-short form (PTGI-SF) and Short Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Rating Interview (SPRINT-E) was used to collect baseline scores and six months after. The results show that negative religious coping predicts the increase in PTS, positive religious coping predicts the increase in PTG and plays a moderation role: at low levels of positive religious coping it was found a strong association between coping by seeking social support and PTG, while at high level the association is weak. These results are discussed in the framework of the functionality of positive and negative religious coping and its role in adjusting to potentially traumatic events.

The large number of military personnel returning from combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan with symptoms of mental illness has led to specializations into veteran mental health treatment and post-traumatic disorder.  While the focus on this population is both beneficial and warranted, it has the potential to lead to a myopic view of veterans’ experiences and needs.  This article attempts to provide a larger perspective that examines the responsibility of mental health professionals to balance the unique nature of veterans’ experiences with their individual diversity and not view them or their experiences through a strictly pathological lens.  It is the authors’ contention that failing to include a holistic approach to counseling veterans may inadvertently stigmatizing them as a group.  Discussions about the risks of over pathologizing symptoms and the value of wellness counseling will also be presented as a representation of the need to include a more diverse approach to counseling veterans and assisting with re-integration into their communities.

Considerations of well-being or flourishing include Maslow's and Rogers' concepts of self-actualisation and actualising tendency. Recent empirical findings suggest that only a modest proportion of the population might be considered to be flourishing. Separate findings focused upon the nature and determinants of post-traumatic growth identify it as comparable to flourishing, and facilitated by supported accommodation to the trauma. This can be understood as reflecting self-actualisation. Empirical findings such as these provide ontological stability to a set of phenomena that share much with ancient teachings extolling redemption through suffering. This framework challenges conventional healthcare policies and practices , but in ways that offer insights into how patient-centred approaches to chronic illness and disability might be better conceived and enabled. It also throws into doubt the rectitude of an economic model built around services and products designed to provide easy access to sources of immediate gratification.

How can we do counseling and psychotherapy across the cultural divide? A principle of "mutual creative space" is presented as a basis for a meaningful and effective encounter. The paper focuses on individual psychotherapy/counseling (separate paper on clinical group work). Seven sub-categories of that principle are given, with elaborate examples of how to use them effectively within the therapeutic and related contexts. The concept has been carried over to education, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and vocational training, among others.

This article summarizes a study of 32 individuals who experienced psychological transformation following periods of intense turmoil and trauma in their lives. Several individuals reported temporary spiritual experiences following turmoil, but the majority underwent a permanent psychological transformation. These experiences are termed suffering-induced transforma-tional experiences (SITEs). The types of trauma that featured included intense stress and upheaval, depression, bereavement, serious illness, becoming disabled, alcoholism, and encounters with death (through medical conditions or accidents). The individuals were interviewed, and the most prevalent characteristics of their new state of being were identified, including increased well-being, intensified perception, a sense of connection, improved relationships , a less materialistic and more altruistic attitude, decreased cognitive activity, and reduced fear of death. Reasons for the transformation are suggested , the most important being the dissolution of psychological attachments , followed by acceptance.

Evidence that posttraumatic growth is a potential outcome in the process of recovery from trauma and natural disaster highlights the importance of social environmental factors that encourage a growth response in survivors. This art-based research project followed up on a group of youth survivors (N = 11) of the 2007 earthquake in the Ica region of Peru who had been active helpers in a 9-month art therapy intervention. The current project, taking place 3 years after the earthquake, explored how the youth perceived their posttraumatic growth and employed the arts in attributing meaning to their traumatic experiences. Participants had developed a stronger sense of life purpose, a heightened sense of perspective, and the freedom to move forward. The role of the arts in bringing comfort and joy to others, and affirming survival, was identified.

In this article the impact of the Covid-19 virus will be used as a lens to read this Isaianic text. The collective threat of the corona-virus causes trauma on societies and communities on different levels: psychological, physical, existential and communal trauma.
Isaiah 7:18-25 also tells us of an historic event which caused extreme trauma to its audience. Verse 18 describes the arrival of the Assyrian army. The prophet compares the Assyrian hosts to the flies “in the rivers of Egypt”, and to the bees in Assyria; that is to say, the invaders will be the innumerable and speedy warriors of the Assyrian king. This portrayal is expanded stating that the flies and the bees will swarm all over the land, penetrate every corner and crack and it will be impossible to get rid of them. The plague of “flies” in the metaphor represents the large numbers, while the “bees” are clearly the aggressive and terrifying ones in this metaphor. Just as the Assyrians, who are about to appear as an unwanted and troublesome multitude of flies and bees from which Ahaz will be unable to free himself and his kingdom, the Covid-19 virus is causing havoc and wreckage to societies all over the world.
In this article we will reflect theologically on the immense psychological and existential damage of trauma caused by the terrifying and laming fear this virus has on the mental well-being of a society. In our theological reflections we will engage with a biblical text which also reflects on the traumatic effects of threat and fear that lamed a society.

Objective: Attending to the potential impacts, both positive and negative, of clinical work with trauma survivors on professionals themselves is a crucial aspect of clinical training and supervision. Vicarious resilience refers to unique, positive effects that transform therapists in response to witnessing trauma survivors’ resilience and recovery process. This study describes the development and exploratory factor analysis of the first instrument to assess vicarious resilience. Method: The Vicarious Resilience Scale (VRS) was developed and administered via electronic survey to 190 helping professionals from around the globe working with survivors of severe traumas, such as torture. Results: Exploratory factor analysis yielded 7 factors: Changes in life goals and perspective, client-inspired hope, increased recognition of clients’ spirituality as a therapeutic resource, increased capacity for resourcefulness, increased selfawareness
and self-care practices, increased consciousness about power and privilege relative to clients’ social location, and increased capacity for remaining present while listening to trauma narratives. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability of the VRS was .92 and, as hypothesized, the VRS was moderately and positively correlated with posttraumatic growth and compassion satisfaction, indicating convergent validity. The VRS was not significantly correlated with compassion fatigue (CF) or burnout, indicating discriminant validity and that vicarious resilience is a unique construct that is not merely “the opposite” of CF or burnout. Conclusion: The VRS possesses sound psychometric properties and can be utilized in
supervision and training contexts and for self-assessment by professionals working with trauma survivors to aid the recognition and cultivation of vicarious resilience.

A study of 161 temporary awakening experiences showed that over 23% were triggered by, or associated with, intense turmoil and distress (Taylor, 2012b). Examples of some of these turmoil-induced awakening experiences are given, illustrating the wide variety of traumatic experiences involved. (The type of trauma was found to be less important than its intensity.) These temporary awakening experiences are contrasted with permanent suffering-induced transformational experiences (SITEs). A distinction is made between a primary shift, involving the establishment of a new self-system (which occurs in SITEs), and the secondary shift which may occur after temporary awakening experiences, when the individual’s self-system remains fundamentally intact, but she or he experiences a shift in
perspective and values. Possible reasons for the connection between psychological turmoil and awakening experiences are discussed, arguing that the experiences cannot simply be explained away as self-delusion or a psychological defense mechanism. It is suggested that
there is a connection between turmoil-induced awakening experiences and the dissolution of psychological attachments, together with an intensification of energy.

ABSTRACT

The experience of sensing the presence of the deceased is a common occurrence following bereavement. Although this experience tends to be reported as positive and meaningful by perceivers, for most of the twentieth century it has been described in pathologising terms in the bereavement literature. Recent decades have seen the publication of numerous studies that point to the normality of this experience and its potential benefits for the bereaved perceivers’ wellbeing. However, there is an ongoing debate within bereavement scholarship regarding the nature and healthiness of this experience. This chapter critically examines the extant literature concerning ‘sense of presence’ experiences and draws attention to the diversity of definitions and conceptualisations within which this experience can be interpreted. Research from a variety of perspectives, including attachment theory and the continuing bonds perspective, is discussed and emerging evidence is reported which suggests that those who can make sense of their experience within culturally-sanctioned (spiritual) conceptual frameworks enjoy greater benefits as a result. The discussion then focuses on meaning-making concerns with regard to this phenomenon and concludes with relevant practice recommendations.

This study set out to incorporate the collective dimensions of
posttraumatic growth and examined the construct and
predictive validity of The Individual and Collective Posttraumatic
Growth Scale (ICPTGS). Participants were 332 volunteers who
had experienced the earthquake on February 27, 2010, in Chile.
Analysis allowed us to confirm a multidimensional structure
composed of four dimensions: individual, spiritual, communal
growth, and societal growth. Additionally, we identified association
among ICPTGS, perceived emotional impact, and social
well-being. This study emphasizes that positive changes
resulting from the exposure to collective disasters can be
perceived also at the collective or community level

Arts-based approaches to scholarly inquiry are becoming increasingly common in qualitative research. The research presented here examines the psychospiritual impact of childhood sexual abuse (CSA), and a spectrum of soul loss was identified including soul wounding, soul withering, soul shattering, soul flight, soul theft, and soul murder. Part of the data set consisted of 24 mandalas by participants and the researcher, as well as one integrative drawing based on the use of imaginal resonance. The art data permitted a depth of insight into the psychospiritual impact of sexual abuse that went beyond what had been provided by other data streams.
As such, concurrent mandala-making and imaginal resonance may be fruitful transpersonal
methods for future researchers.

Oftentimes trauma patients express extreme gratitude for their lives being spared. The question, however, is when and how they work through the grief associated with their limitations resulting from the trauma. This article examines the patient's timing and means of dealing with both grief and gratitude following a traumatic event.

Background: Stress-related situations play a significant role in children's lives and result in different reaction in children. Among various methods of evaluating the stressful environment of children, 54-item Children's Coping Strategies Checklist-Revision1 (CCSC-R1) has been developed as one of the most powerful tools for assessing different aspects of coping in children. The purpose of the present study is to find the psychometric properties of Persian CCSC-R1 and to identify the coping strategies used by Iranian children. Method: Subjects included 401 female students aged between 9 and 13 who were subjected to the Sarpol-e-Zahab earthquake (in Northeast of Iran). Construct and convergence validities were examined with confirmatory factor analysis and correlated with Children's Coping Behavior Questionnaire (CCBQ). Reliability was obtained by internal consistency. Using repeated analysis of variance, the status of coping strategies in children were achieved. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good model fit to the four-factor structure, active coping, distracting action/distraction, avoidance, and support seeking strategies. The results also demonstrated that there was a strong relationship between four-factors of CCSC-R1 including their subscales and CCBQ. Internal consistency (Cronbach's Alpha) for the four dimensions were in the range of 0.76 to 0.88. The findings also showed that Iranian children use active coping, especially optimism, more than other strategies in order to deal with their stressful situations. Conclusions: It is concluded that CCSC-R1 is a valid and reliable instrument which could be employed for Iranian children. Furthermore, in the face of traumatic events, Iranian children acted same as people in individualistic cultures.

Long-term pain is a common comorbidity for people with acquired brain injury. This chapter explores what it is like to live with those two conditions, focusing on the meaning for the individual. The meaning of pain plays a part in determining people’s emotional reactions and behavioural choices, and it is central for the process of psychosocial adjustment to a life with functional, social, participatory, and emotional challenges. Meaning is also closely linked to the identity changes that typically happen once people are faced with the challenge of living with long-term conditions. The field of positive psychology has contributed valuable insights into this process and the roles of benefit-finding, resilience, and post-traumatic growth are discussed. Two significantly different case stories are used as an illustration of life with acquired brain injury and long-term pain. One case, Julie, illustrates the process of adaptation and the other case, Mark, illustrates the challenge of dealing with pain issues when insight and pain perception has been changed by a frontal lobe injury. In both cases, the meaning of pain is integral to the meaning of brain injury. Neither Julie nor Mark consider themselves to have long-term pain, they live with the long-term impact of their brain injury, where pain is just one aspect. In fact, Mark’s altered pain perception causes him to claim that he feels no pain, yet it is nevertheless a challenge for him. The chapter concludes with clinical recommendations, calling for access to systematic, psychosocial rehabilitation that includes meaning-based approaches. A holistic rehabilitation model is proposed, suggesting that traditional medical and rehabilitation approaches need to happen within the context of psychosocial adjustment and rehabilitation, rather than expecting psychosocial adjustment to happen by itself, as a “by-product” of medical, physical, cognitive, and occupational interventions.

Notre étude à méthodes mixtes a compris 435 réponses à un sondage en ligne ainsi que 71 entrevues de suivi en personne ou par téléphone avec des participants volontaires. Nous avons demandé aux gens de partager avec nous ce qui avait été utile ou inutile à la suite de leur expérience de violence, ainsi que les changements qu’ils avaient vécus dans leur vie personnelle. Nous leur avons également demandé de nous faire part de leur rétroaction concernant leurs expériences avec le système de justice pénale, les services aux victimes et le soutien qu’ils avaient reçu de leurs familles et de leurs amis. Grâce à cela, nous en avons appris sur les différents types d’interactions qui exacerbent les traumatismes ainsi que ceux qui appuient le processus de résilience et qui favorisent la croissance post-traumatique et les sentiments de mieux-être. Nous avons également appris l’importance du langage utilisé et des sentiments que des mots comme « victime » ou « survivants » suscitaient chez les participants.

Literature has until recently focused mainly on the traumatic dimension of school bullying and the negative consequences for the victims, giving less emphasis to mental resilience and post-traumatic growth. Furthermore, recent research has shown the importance of the relationships/interactions between bullying victims and significant others in shaping the consequences of the experience. The present
qualitative study examines the experience of school bullying among six adult chronic victims (1 man and five women) and the role that interactions with significant others played during this process. Data have been collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed through thematic analysis. The results showed that the specific victims experienced immediate and long-term negative consequences. However, it has been found that, in most of the cases, the prolonged negative impact coexisted with post-traumatic growth and that supportive relationships contributed to victims’ mental resilience during school bullying, facilitating their efforts to re-organize their lives. Only one participant focused mainly on the negative consequences of the experience, a fact that probably relates to the lack of substantial support during both the chronic bullying experience and her present life conditions.

A new concept of the personal life-designing landscape as an area of life with certain functional-dynamic characteristics and specific semantic configuration is included in the thesaurus of psychological concepts. The attention is paid to the differences between the concept of the personal life-designing landscape and the traditional concept of life path, which lies in the more local scale of the landscape, and is set by actual life tasks statement and finding updated value-semantic landmarks. The following types of landscapes with functional unity are defined: pragmatic, hedonistic, consumer, service, and existential. It is shown that the existential landscape accumulates the experience of the post-traumatic stage of life as a special, awareness of the different meaningful content of the new life route. The basic functionality of the existential landscape has been found, which is to create the conditions for reflection, reinterpretation, and integration of traumatic experiences that a person acquires in a border situation, in dramatic or tragic circumstances. The existential landscape is regarded as the shortest path for the individual to recover and improve his/her psychological health. There is revealed the dependence of the length of individual stay within the existential landscape on the force of trauma (peculiarities of losses, the intensity of painful memories) and the hardiness resource. It was invoked the options of the existential landscape directing: (a) for a search for professional self-realization, which requires strengthening of the self-identification mode; (b) for the issue of cooperation, which requires strengthening of the regime of dialogue; (c) for distance from certain people, which needs to be strengthened by the autonomy regime; (d) for the search for stable forms of everyday life, which requires a strengthening of the practice regime.

The article deals with the problem of the existing hardiness research  approaches,  which  aim  at  determining  the  essence  of  this category, and uncovers the issue of the synthesis of theoretical approaches to the definition of this concept. The study proved that the conceptualization  of  the  category  of  hardiness  is  dominated  by a functional approach, in which the main goal of resilience is to achieve an effective result in dealing with difficulties, namely, overcoming hardships in the personal growth direction. Slightly fewer studies focus on  the procedural aspect of the concept of hardiness, that is, finding effective coping mechanisms and behavioral strategies in circumstances that are perceived by the person as unfavorable.
As a result of the analysis of domestic and foreign scientific research on the problem of hardiness, two subdivisions in determining the theoretical basis of hardiness were identified. Namely, approaches to the hardiness study were divided into those that rely on the structural organization of the phenomenon and those that provide an understanding of the content and ideological and theoretical foundations of the concept. The first should include  systems  approach  and  structural  and  functional  approach(G. Vanakova,  T. Larina,  S. Maddi,  V. Panchenko,  A. Rasskazova,T. Titarenko,  А. Fominova,  А. Chikhantsova),  the  second  –  existential, resource and ecopsychological approaches (L. Alexandrova, D. Koshaba, Т. Larina,  D. Leontiev,  N. Loginova,  Р. Lushin,  S. Maddi,  V. Panchenko, Т. Titarenko, G. Harvey). These approaches formed the basis of the article as those, which most deeply reflect the essence of the hardiness phenomenon. Basing on the analysis of these approaches to the hardiness study and considering the fact that the concept of hardiness may only be understood fully and comprehensively via the synthesis of theoretical approaches to the  hardiness  conceptualization,  the  article  attempts  to  provide  a synthesized definition of this category. Hardiness may be defined as a systemic  psychological  formation,  an  integral  personal  attitude  which aims  at  overcoming  difficulties,  activating  problem-solving  capacities, supporting the self-changing trajectories (of metamorphosis type), and contributes to the new identity meanings emergence, self-image building, and the emergence of new opportunities in problem-solving.
Keywords: hardiness; coping resource; post-traumatic growth; systems approach;  structural  and  functional  approach;  existential  approach; resource approach; ecopsychological approach.

The present study aimed to understand the resettlement experiences of Syrian refugees, who are resettled in Ankara, Turkey, with respect to their strengths and assets. Thisstudy conducted under the framework of a community-based participatory research approach (CBPR). Seven adult Syrians (4 females, 3 males) with a mean age of 24.14 (SD=4.33) were reached with the help of community partners and attended in semi-structured interviews. The content analysis of the interviews was completedthrough a qualitative data analysis program Atlas.ti.. Research partners are involved in the analysis by providing feedback on completed analysis. Results of the study pointed out that language barriers, acts of discrimination, unemployment, being exposed to multiple losses and being away from their family members were negatively correlated with refugees’ psychosocial wellbeing and adjustment as well. On the other hand, understanding the language, being employed, accessing to basic rights and social and economic resources, having previously settled relatives in Turkey and getting citizenship appeared as positive factors impact refugees’ adjustment process via decreasing number of resettlement stressors and pave the way for accessing to other resources. Moreover, family ties and social network, hope for future, similarity of cultures and relative freedom for Syrian women appeared as strengths and assets of Syrians. These results are discussed in relation to refugees’ resettlement and adjustment process literature. The implications of the results were provided for policy makers, psychological health professionals and nongovernmental organizations (NGO).
Key words: Refugees; Syrians; Community-Based Participatory Research;
Adjustment

Este artigo deu sequência ao que foi requerido como trabalho de grupo para a unidade curricular designada por Avaliação Psicológica: efetuar um relatório psicológico intermédio. Para o efeito, efetuámos uma entrevista semiestruturada (a uma pessoa encaminhada pelo seu médico com a hipótese de possui PPST) cujo guião foi elaborado tendo por base o DSM-5 e o PTGI. Efetuámos depois uma análise de conteúdo de onde extraímos conclusões preliminares e fizemos recomendações: uma segunda avaliação com a administração da CAPS-5, da LEC-5 e do PTGI e uma terceira avaliação onde: sendo confirmado o diagnóstico de PPST, se aplique a ESE, a VIA-IS e se analise a TTT; sendo infirmada a hipótese de a entrevistada possuir PPST, se aplique a SMGAD-A, a ESE e a VIA-IS. Finalizamos com possibilidades sobre potenciais intervenções psicoterapêuticas, caso se confirme o diagnóstico de PPST.
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This paper follows up the requirements for the group work of this curricular unit called Psychological Assessment: make an intermediate psychological report. For this purpose we made a semi-structured interview (with a person who was directed by her doctor with the hypothesis that she has PTSD) whose script has been prepared based on DSM-5 and PTGI. Then we made a content analysis from where we obtained preliminary findings and made recommendations: a second evaluation with the administration of CAPS-5, LEC-5 and PTGI and a third evaluation where: being confirmed the diagnosis of PTSD, apply the ESE, the VIA-IS and analyze the TTT; being ruled out the possibility that the interviewed have PTSD, apply the SMGAD-A, the ESE and the VIA-IS. We finish with possibilities about potential psychotherapeutic interventions, if the diagnosis of PTSD is confirmed.

Este artigo dá sequência ao que é requerido como trabalho de grupo para a unidade curricular designada por Psicologia Clínica e da Saúde: caraterização de uma psicopatologia escolhida pelo grupo (que foi a PPST); descrição das possíveis intervenções para essa psicopatologia e caraterização da mais eficaz (que é a TCC); descrição da aplicação da TCC à PPST e estudos sobre a sua eficácia (onde se incluem duas meta-análises); descrição de um caso clínico (de uma ex-combatente) e reflexão crítica, onde foi salientada a importância de a TCC considerar a vertente positiva da PPST bem como a de considerar os conhecimentos mais recentes da epigenética (sobre a transmissão transgeracional de memórias traumáticas) no sentido de se efetuar um trabalho etiológico mais completo e transgeracionalmente preventivo.
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This paper follows up the requirements for the group work of this curricular unit called Clinical and Health Psychology: characterization of a psychopathology chosen by the group (which was PTSD); description of possible interventions for that psychopathology and characterization of the most effective (which is CBT); description of the application of CBT to PTSD and studies on its effectiveness (which includes two meta-analyzes); description of a clinical case (of a war veteran) and critical reflection, which stressed the importance of CBT consider the positive side of PTSD as well as the consideration of the latest knowledge of epigenetics (on the transgenerational transmission of traumatic memories) in order to accomplish a more complete etiological work and transgenerationally preventive.

This presentation seeks to explain why conflict-related sexual violence against males, adult males in particular, can be thought of as gendered violence, and to explore why a feminist-inspired approach to acknowledging and responding to the gendered quality of such violence has the potential to help combat violence that we more usually associate with the term ‘gendered violence’ – violence by men and boys against women and girls.

It is not altogether uncommon, in the aftermath of traumatic life events, for individuals and groups to report that they have had experiences and faced processes that have led to significant personal changes and positive psychological growth... This chapter offers a number of contributions to trauma theory, and specifically post-traumatic growth, that informs our fuller consideration of the role of psycho-spiritual transformation in the processes, outcomes, and management of trauma beginning with: Abraham Maslow's theory of peak experience and self-actualisation and Carl Rogers's organismic valuing process; Stanislav Grof's holotropic paradigm and formulation of psycho-spiritual transformation; the research conduted by Lawrence Calhoun and Richard Tedeschion post-traumatic growth: and, Martin Seligman and Stephen Joseph's conceptualisations of positive psychology. Together these interdisciplinary strands capture something of the a prevailing optimism and a shared understanding that the struggle of post-traumatic experience may, for some at least, offer the potential for personal growth.