Trauma and Families

Psychologically speaking, traumatic experiences are defined as events that overwhelm an individual’s (or groups’) resources and abilities to cope physically, psychologically, and spiritually, resulting in a period of psychological suffering. The history of humankind has included war, interpersonal violence, natural disasters, and other events—both natural and human—resulting in lasting psychological distress, physical injury, and spiritual pain for affected individuals. The impact of these events is disruptive to the psychological and relational functioning of individuals, interpersonal relationships, and families. Therefore, therapeutically exploring the meaning and impact of traumatic events is often involved directly or indirectly in the therapeutic work of family therapy. In this entry, the rationale for using family therapy with trauma, the diagnosis of trauma, the intersection of trauma and development, trauma within interpersonal ...