On the issue of personality context in the treatment of trauma survivors

✍ Scribed by Paul S. Benveniste; Andrew Molteni

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 191 KB
• Volume: 7
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0894-9867
• DOI: 10.1002/jts.2490070316

✦ Synopsis

We are writing with comments on Roth and Batson's (1993) case presentation illustrating the psychotherapeutic treatment by a male therapist of a female incest survivor. Our comments, in general, seek to address the complexities involved in choosing a treatment approach for adult abuse. Determining an approach with survivors of abuse can be further complicated when these individuals present themselves for treatment with a request that the work focus on resolution of specific post-traumatic sequelae. Generally speaking, therapists often face the challenge of respecting the presenting problem of a patient, while also realizing that this identified problem may be only the tip of an iceberg, or even an unintended smokescreen shielding other issues.

The ultimate role of a presenting problem can often only be appreciated in hindsight, after a treatment is concluded. A presenting problem is usually best understood in the context of an individual's personality. It may be the tip of an iceberg, i.e., the most obvious or acceptable symptom in a broader network of symptomatic behaviors, or it may be an unintended smokescreen, that is, the unconscious defensive efforts which typically characterize an individual's interpersonal relations. Establishing a personality context can be accomplished both by a careful initial assessment, as well as diligent tracking of an individual's reactions to therapeutic interventions as the treatment unfolds.

In addressing a presenting problem involving the recovery of repressed memories, Roth and Batson selected an initial treatment approach which emphasized the use of hypnosis to facilitate this goal (p. 162). They 'Psychological Associate,