Trauma Story Assessment and Therapy: Journal for Field and Clinic

Trauma Story Assessment and Therapy: Journal for Field and ClinicThe Trauma Story is at the heart of the medical and mental health care of persons who have survived violence. Over the past 30 years the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (HPRT) has cared for over 10,000 sufferers of extreme violence. HPRT through its scientific research has discovered the four major dimensions of the Trauma Story: 1) The brutal facts. 2) Cultural meaning of trauma. 3) Revelation. 4) ListenerStoryteller relationship that exist in all

The Trauma Story is at the heart of the medical and mental health care of persons who have survived violence. Over the past 30 years the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (HPRT) has cared for over 10,000 sufferers of extreme violence. HPRT through its scientific research has discovered the four major dimensions of the Trauma Story: 1) The ÒbrutalÓ facts. 2) Cultural meaning of trauma. 3) Revelation. 4) ListenerÑStoryteller relationship that exist in all trauma narratives. The importance of the Trauma Story as an element of Òself-healingÓ has also been revealed. The TSAT is a new journal approach for eliciting the trauma story and building on the survivorÕs resiliency. The TSAT allows the listener to enter into an empathic dialog and discover their implications of their story for healing. This approach emerged from the new book Healing Invisible Wounds: Path to Hope and Recovery in a Violent World. The TSAT can be used by all health care and mental health practitioners.