Making Sense of Trauma

Book excerpt: This book is aimed at people who have experienced distressful and traumatising experiences such as war, sexual abuse or rape, natural and manmade disasters, car accidents, or the death of a loved one. Most people have had such an experience, and evidence suggests somewhere between 5-25% of people have significant problems as a result; not necessarily full post-traumatic stress disorder, but also anxiety and depression, or substance abuse. There is ample evidence to show that people recover from traumatic or distressful events by telling their story, by making sense of what happened. The narrative techniques described in the book will help people with that process of meaning making. Topics include: What we mean by a traumatic event Coping and support Narrative storytelling - telling your story to a person, therapist or group Writing it down Guided Narrative Techniques - more sophisticated form of writing and/or talking techniques, eg Narrative Exposure Therapy (N.E.T.) Arts and narrative - eg writing, pictures, cartoons, photography.