Stories from the road of recovery – How adult, female survivors of childhood trauma experience ways to positive change

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore how female survivors of childhood trauma who have sought treatment experience ways to positive change. Little knowledge exists regarding the first-person perspective of the recovery process following childhood trauma, and getting access to this perspective might contribute to better understanding of these processes, hence offering opportunities for health promotion. All clients (31, including 3 who dropped out) from six stabilization groups for women exposed to human-inflicted traumas were invited to participate in the study. Experiences of the recovery process were not restricted to the period of receiving treatment, and all clients who volunteered were included in the study. Qualitative, in-depth interviews with 13 consenting clients were carried out shortly after completion of the group treatment. All interviews were transcribed verbatim, and a hermeneutical-phenomenological approach to analysis was applied. The analysis resulted in five interrelated, but distinct main themes: finding new ways to understand one's emotions and actions, moving from numbness toward vital contact, becoming an advocate of one's own needs, experiencing increased sense of agency, and staying with difficult feelings and choices. The themes support, yet supplement trauma theory, by underlining the relationship between emotional contact and meaning-making, while downplaying the necessity of symptom elimination in the experience of recovery. The findings also underline that the active role trauma survivors play in their processes of recovery.

How do men with severe sexual and physical childhood traumatization experience trauma-stabilizing group treatment? A qualitative study

“…In psychoeducational courses, where disclosure of self is not a part of the intervention, it is less obvious that the feeling of acceptance and community is being emphasized by the participants. However, Stige et al (2013) found the same positive effect of community and self-acceptance as in our study. They explain this by the common focus in the current trauma-related symptoms that they experienced and shared in the group.…”

“…This is to some extent in line with a study from Canada including 260 men with a history of physical or emotional traumas, where the rates of marriage and employment status were lower than in the general population (Hopton & Huta, 2013). In a study by Stige et al (2013) including 13 females, 10 had children and four were working. In the present study, only one man was working and none of the men had a cohabitant or children.…”

“…In Norway, a modified first-phase stabilizing treatment manual from the Netherlands, with psychoeducation, skills training and homework as the three main pillars, is frequently used in the treatment of complex traumas (Boon, Steele, & van der Hart, 2011; Michalopoulos, 2012). Stige, Binder, Rosenvinge, and Træen (2013) included 13 females with unspecified traumas in a qualitative study, using a modified version of this treatment manual. They found five interrelated, but distinct main themes: finding new ways to understand one’s emotions and actions, moving from numbness towards vital contact, becoming an advocate of one’s own needs, experiencing an increased sense of agency, and staying with difficult feelings and choices.…”

“Needing different things from different people” – a qualitative exploration of recovery in first episode psychosis

“…Recovery blir i økende grad sett på som et viktig konsept og mål innenfor psykiske helsetjenester (Borg et al, 2013;Perkins & Slade, 2012;Slade et al, 2014). Recovery er imidlertid et komplekst begrep som kan ha forskjellige betydninger, og som benyttes ulikt innenfor ulike kontekster (de Jager et al, 2016;Stige, Binder, Rosenvinge & Traeen, 2013;Veseth, 2014). Jeg presenterer de tre hovedkategoriene -recovery som resultat, recovery som personlig prosess og recovery som sosial prosess -nedenfor.…”

Emotional Intelligence in Police Interviews—Approach, Training and the Usefulness of the Concept

“…esearch has shown how different factors like increased sense of agency (S. H. Stige, Binder, Rosenvinge, & Traeen, 2013), coping, and reappraisal of traumatic memories, (Halligan et al, 2003;Kindt & Engelhard, 2005;Meyerson et al, 2011) …”