An innovative and effective treatment for trauma

Healing the effects of personal trauma has added benefits to the larger community - stopping the cycle of violence that begets war, terrorism and generations of family pain. So asserts Kate (M. Katherine) Hudgins, author of the newly published book, "Experiential Treatment for PTSD: The Therapeutic Spiral Model."

Dr. Hudgins, a Ph.D. clinical psychologist and internationally recognized speaker and presenter on innovative trauma treatment, believes that healing from trauma can happen surprisingly quickly when using methods that directly address how trauma is stored in the brain and the body. Her book details the holistic model that she developed and "road tested" in hundreds of workshops from Israel and Northern Ireland to Turkey and South Africa, consistently meeting with positive results.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, the condition that results when psychological trauma is not adequately processed, affects more than the individual. The Therapeutic Spiral Model is a systematic modification of psychodrama, an action method that is the basis of common role-play techniques. In this step-by-step guide for using experiential methods safely, Dr. Hudgins, the founder of Therapeutic Spiral International, presents theoretical foundations of her model, research on trauma and the case for experiential psychotherapy as the treatment of choice.

Research on neurobiology of trauma shows that flashbacks activate the emotional side of the brain rather than the cognitive side. Because trauma impacts the part of the brain that cannot easily or completely explain the experience, verbally based therapies have limitations in resolving issues of trauma.

Dr. Hudgins argues - with research to support her - that experiential methods are the treatment of choice for trauma survivors when anchored in clinical theory and employed by a competent and well-trained practitioner since they increase treatment effectiveness and decrease treatment time, often by months and years.

Each chapter contains action vignettes and case examples of four diverse clients to demonstrate the process and progress of the spiral technique with six clinical action structures and 14 intervention modules using art, role play and other experiential methods. Special attention is given to the Trauma Survivors Intrapsychic Role Atom which details the constellation of roles that are formed in response to traumautic experience, and the roles of Containing Double, Body Double and Observing Ego that provide containment and reduce uncontrolled regression and dissociation. The clients - with details modified to protect confidentiality - are typical of the people who have attended Dr. Hudgins' workshops through the years: survivors of sexual and physical abuse and rape, political refugees, combat veterans and others.

The image of the "spiral" refers to the balancing an awareness of the debilitating and chaotic truth of violent experience with a reasoned approach to integrating that experience in ways that re-establish social ties and reassert non-violent values. Survivors often speak of "spiraling down" into memories of violence and losing the ability to act intelligently. The model suggests that one must "spiral out" as well as in, taking steps to think and communicate rationally to counter the whirlpool tendencies of traumatic memory.

The book is geared to professionals, particularly those with understanding or training in trauma and the creative arts therapies. However, it may appeal to those survivors of trauma who are seeking non-traditional methods of treatment and want to introduce new ideas to their psychotherapists and physicians.

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