Addiction, Trauma and Family Systems Michael F. Barnes, Ph.D., LPC Clinical Program Manager CeDAR -...
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Addiction, Trauma and Family Systems Michael F. Barnes, Ph.D., LPC Clinical Program Manager CeDAR - Center for Dependence, Addiction, & Recovery 40th Annual
Addiction, Trauma and Family Systems Michael F. Barnes, Ph.D.,
LPC Clinical Program Manager CeDAR - Center for Dependence,
Addiction, & Recovery 40th Annual Winter Symposium "Addictive
Disorders, Behavioral Health and Mental Health Colorado Springs,
Colorado
Slide 2
Prevalence of PTSD and Substance Use Disorders Among persons
who develop PTSD, 52% of men and 28% of women are estimated to
develop an alcohol use disorder. 35% of men and 27% of women
develop a drug use disorder. (Najavits, 2007) The numbers are even
higher for veterans, prisoners, victims of domestic violence, first
responders, etc. (Najavits, 2004a, 2004b, 2007) Individuals with
PTSD are 3 to 4 times more likely to develop SUDs than individuals
without PTSD. Have earlier histories with A & D, more severe
use, and poor treatment adherence. (Khantzian & Albanese, 2008)
PTSD & Substance Abuse Disorders
Slide 3
Treatment outcomes - PTSD and SUDS PTSD/SUD patients more
vulnerable to poorer short- and long- term outcomes. (Ouimette,
Moos, & Brown, 2003) PTSD heightens the likelihood of addiction
relapse, and the potential for multiple relapses. (Norman, Tate,
Anderson, & Brown, 2007) A trauma history and current trauma
symptoms are associated with relapse to alcohol or other substance
use in alcohol dependent women. (Heffner, Blom, & Anthenelli,
2011) PTSD/SUDS has been shown to be associated with poorer
treatment outcomes, and higher relapse rates. (Sonne, Back, Zuniga,
Randall, & Brady, 2003) PTSD & Substance Abuse
Disorders
Slide 4
Relationship between addiction & Trauma Reference
Unknown?
Slide 5
Like Addiction, the trauma response is a bio-psycho-social
process. Most counselors see it as a linear process, where an
individual is impacted by an event, and then responds to the event.
What about the people who love them? Are they impacted? Are
children impacted by the trauma responses and addiction of their
parents? Are parents and siblings impacted by the trauma response
or addiction of their child/sibling? Systemic Trauma is a Recursive
Process Feedback, Dramaturgy! Impact of Trauma on Family
Slide 6
All Families Have Organization - Homeostasis Like a mobile
adjusts to wind to maintain stability, all families adjust to lifes
demands to maintain stability, and system integrity. Primary Trauma
Survivor Intoxication Anxiety, Hyperarousal Intrusive Thoughts,
Nightmares Anger, Conflict Dissociation, Depression FAMILY SYSTEM
REVIEW
Slide 7
Family Systems Myth: A change by any one member of a system
forces the system to change. In reality there are multiple things
that can happen when one member of a family system changes: 1.The
system can change to accommodate the change made by the family
member. 2.The system can exert significant pressure on the member
to change back. 3.Other system members can pull together and create
increased distance with the changed member. Give up! For family
members, as well as for primary survivors/addicts, change requires
insight into reality of secondary trauma, as well as energy for
dealing with the biological, emotional, and homeostatic
implications!
Slide 8
Continuum of Traumatic Stress Primary Trauma Secondary Trauma
Compassion Fatigue Organizational Trauma Secondary Trauma Burnout
If you have any doubt about the recursive nature of
trauma/addiction, consider the impact of compassion fatigue on
counselors! Vicarious Trauma Chiasmal Trauma
Slide 9
Sources of Primary Traumatic Stress Response (Criterion A DSM
V) Direct personal experience of an event that involves threatened,
death, actual or threatened serious injury, or threat to ones
physical integrity Or witnessing an event that involves death,
injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of another person; Or
learning about unexpected or violent death, serious harm, or threat
of death or injury experienced by a family member or other close
associates. DSM V
Slide 10
Common Symptoms of Trauma Re-experiencing traumatic events
(Criterion B) Recollections of the events, sudden intrusive
thoughts Dreams and or nightmares Avoidance of reminders of
traumatic events (Criterion C) Efforts to avoid thoughts and
feelings Avoidance of people, places, situations that remind.
Negative changes in thougts and mood that occurred or worsened
following traumatic event (Criterion D) Inability to remember
aspects of event Negative evaluation of self, others, the world
Loss of interest in activities Persistent arousal (Criterion E)
Irritability or outbursts of anger Difficulty concentrating Startle
response All four are PTSD Criteria from DSM V
Slide 11
Natural Disaster Events - Hurricanes, Earthquakes, Tornadoes,
Floods, Fires, etc. High Speed Events - Car & Bike Accidents,
Falls, etc. Assault Events - Assault, Rape, Incest, Animal Attacks
Global Threat Events - Drowning, Electrocution, Caesarian, etc.
Major Illness/Hospital Events - Cancer, Heart Attacks, Asthma, Full
Anesthesia Surgeries Cyclical Trauma Anniversary of major traumatic
event Family Trauma Divorce, Affairs, Death of a loved one, etc.
Abandonment or Attachment Trauma Living in an alcoholic or
otherwise dysfunctional family What Causes Trauma?
Slide 12
10 Family Qualitative Study, Families of Patients with Chronic
Co-Occurring Disorders (Mental Illness & Addiction ) Common
Response Patterns (All issues identified by multiple informants)
Common Feeling Common Defense Mechanisms Common Behavioral
Responses Anxiety/worry - hypervigilance/control Traumatic Stress
Response Frustration with Medical Community Anger Fear Grief Guilt
Horror Terror Shock Hurt Depression Frustration Shame Denial
Rationalization Intellectualization Projection Common Cognitive
Responses Obsession Intrusive Thoughts Uncertainty Self Blame Fault
Finding Resentments Hopelessness Helplessness Foreshortened Future
(Were going to die!) Common Physical Responses Sleeplessness
Exhaustion Nightmares Startle Response Hypervigilance Control
self/others Care Taking Impose Structure Avoid triggers &
Reminders
Slide 13
Reported Sources of Trauma in Families With Mentally
Ill/Addicted Family Member Loved ones suicide attempts or suicidal
ideation Loved ones victimization (raped, beaten, etc.) Loved ones
dangerous/out of control behaviors (weapons, fire, assaultive
behaviors, destruction of property, etc.) Legal involvement (Police
actions, Jail, etc.) Fear for ones own and others lives Psychotic
Symptoms (delusions & hallucinations) Depressive symptoms (self
harm, unresponsiveness, etc.) Emergency Rooms and sudden,
unexpected crisis calls Shattered dreams (will never be who we
thought they would be, not who they were before) - Death
Humiliation
Slide 14
Axiom 1: Individual Reactions Family members report having
experienced emotional, cognitive and behavioral symptoms that are
similar to those reported by the primary victim. Symptoms (in the
literature) reported by family members: Intrusive thoughts,
nightmares, flashbacks Feelings of detachment and estrangement from
others Restricted affect Avoidance of activities that remind them
of the traumatic event Sleep disturbances Hypervigilance
Fatigue.
Slide 15
Axiom 2: Altered Family World View Family members frequently
experience a change in world view associated with personal
vulnerability, safety, and control. Following a traumatic event,
focus shift to safety issues, related to self and others. Catherall
(1998) safety issues often expressed in the form of suspicious,
distrustful attributions concerning the motivations of others Think
how desperate families are to get a loved one into treatment for
addiction and then how quickly they listen to a patients complaints
and question the motives or competency of the treatment
staff/program. Key issues that result from this shift include:
Hypervigilant, Enabling, overprotection, defensiveness, etc.
Slide 16
Michael S. Genogram 47 48 24 2212 Maternal Grandmother Maternal
Grandfather Paternal Grandmother Paternal Grandfather Uncle Denise
Gary Patrick (met Denise online) MichaelAlycia ? Killed by Drunk
Driver in 1996 Major focus of therapy! Miscarriage at 5 months 19??
To 1985 1998 to Present Anger Alcoholism Traumatized Major Traumas
(Denise) 1.Age 14 months, leg cut off in lawn mower accident
2.Sexual Abuse from age 14 to 17 (family friend) 3.Loss of 1 child
by miscarriage 4.Daughter killed by drunk driver Major issues for
Michael: 1.Very little memory of childhood 2.Very upset by death of
sister 3.Hyper-vigilant of mothers moods, attitudes (major
enmeshment) 4.Severe anger problems that predate sisters death
(most focus on father and sister) 5.Multiple concussions from
football Major issues for Denise: 1.Very controlling & hyper-
vigilant. 2.Major medical issues/ disability. 3.Issues with
daughters death Alcoholism
Identity & Goals Rules * overt vs. covert * communication/
meta-communication * emotional closeness * express/discuss emotion
Roles * decision making * parenting * care giving *
patriarch/matriarch Rituals * celebrations/holidays * religious
events * events that make this family separate from others.
Routines * daily activities * routines * conserve energy
Relationships * Boundaries * Conflicted? * Willingness to accept,
ask for and accept social support Family Organization Family Stable
Patterns The 5 Rs Whether the crisis is a trauma, addiction, or
both, the longer the family goes without resolving a problem, the
more these organizing principles tend to change, in order to allow
the family to survive the crisis. Values + Goals = Identity
Slide 19
Anger Conflict Anxiety Enabling While family members may appear
to be going in different directions and increasingly conflicted,
they are operating out of the same set of rules, roles, etc. Why do
people change? 1 st order change vs. 2 nd order change!
Slide 20
Familys Stable Patterns Pattern disrupted And family
Experiences distress (Problem) Family experiences crisis Family
withdraws From potential Social support Family becomes Preoccupied
With crisis Family pattern Becomes organized Around crisis Crisis
becomes Necessary for Family stability Family seeks Potential
social support Family views Crisis in context Of its goals Family
develops A new pattern For stability Crisis resolved Or managed
Family resolves Distress using Preexisting strategies 1 2 3 5
Disrupting Event Family Distress Model (Cornille & Boroto) 4 5
Rs
Slide 21
Critical Clinical Factors - Isomorphism Isomorphism is a
concept used in MFT supervision, similar to parallel process used
in individual therapy. Defined as the phenomenon of identifying
similar patterns that occur across various systems. (White &
Russell, 1997). An example is when families replicate various
system patterns in therapy. If families function within
homeostasis, they will attempt to maintain customary interactional
patterns within the therapy process and may struggle when therapist
doesnt participate. Counselors can be easily inducted into the
family system interactional patterns. Lose ability to create
change.
Slide 22
Axiom 2: Altered Family World View May also result in
disruption in ability to modulate strong affect and maintenance of
inner connectedness to others. (McCann & Pearlman) See reduced
ability to self sooth. See increased need for others to conform to
their safety standards. Increased control, increased enabling Often
Overextending, overindulging or compulsive consumption to avoid
affect (overeat, overwork, drink excessively, sex, etc.) Frequent
or intense self-criticism or self loathing Difficulty tolerating
strong feelings or hypersensitivity to emotionally charged
stimuli.
Slide 23
Reduced Ability to Tolerate Emotion Need for Control,
Hypervigilance, Enabling Tolerable range of emotion Homeostasis
Brought about by changes to Limbic System, ANS, etc. Positive
Emotions Negative Emotions How might this picture be different for
a patient or family member who comes to us with Significant
attachment trauma (Small t)? What are the implications for growing
up in a home with a traumatized parent?
Slide 24
Family Response to Narrowed Range of Tolerable Emotion
Tolerable range of emotion/anxiety Positive Emotions Negative
Emotions Secondary Trauma survivors experience increased need to
reduce anxiety, fear, sadness, etc. See increase in control
behaviors, enabling, hypervigilence
Slide 25
Effect of emotional arousal on declarative (Semantic) Memory,
(van der Kolk, 1996) Auditory Olfactory Kinesthetic Thalamus
Amygdala High Threat Fear-Terror Hippocampus Pre-Frontal Cortex
Offline/Unavailable Visual Gustatory Traumatic Memory - Poor
Integration Processing memory and Emotional Reactions Spatial
Memory Shift from Short to Long Term Fit information into existing
cognitive Schema Information NOT filed in memory database
Experience memories as sensory triggers Bottom-Up Memory
experienced as present Extreme Stress interferes with hippocampal
functioning, memories based on fragments of information. Autonomic
Nervous System Fight/Flight/Freeze
Slide 26
Trauma and the Autonomic Nervous System State 0: (zero): calm,
responsive, awake State 1: slightly anxious, annoyed, nervous,
physical tension State 2: highly anxious, angry, panic symptoms,
intense physical tension (stomach, chest, breathing), powerful
fight or flight responses State 3: Dual activated (a mixture of
activation with dissociative symptoms): tension with somatic
collapse, anxiety, sleepy, panic, hopelessness, heaviness, blurred
vision State 4: pure dissociation marked by a distinct lack of
physical sensation and flat affect, numbed out, blank, feeling
floaty, depersonalized, and disconnected No Solutions Scared to
death Systems perspective: enmeshment, enabling, control behaviors
are homeostatic maintainers. They are also very biologically based!
To face the threat of not enabling is terrifying for many!
Slide 27
Axiom 3: Structural/Organizational Changes Conflict, Anger,
Resentment, Emotional Distance, Emotional Intensity, shifts in
intimacy, shifts in parenting, shifts in decision making, etc.
Child Mother Father Triangulation Persuer/Distancer Relationship
Brothers Sisters Rigid External Boundaries Diffuse Internal
Boundaries Sibling Role Changes Shifts in all 5 Rs &
organization around the problems of addiction and trauma!
Slide 28
Axiom 4 - Centrality of Parental/Familial Perceptions Family
member perceptions/experience of stress/anxiety associated with the
traumatizing event will influence interactional patterns, coping
mechanisms, and degree of emotional consequence experienced by
family system. Perceived stress is more influential on symptoms
development than actual, observable stressors (Miles, 1985) The
crisis is not the problem, but it is the familys constraining
beliefs that restrict alternative views about the crisis that
becomes the problem (Shaw & Halliday, 1992) Denver Trauma
Institute, 2013
Slide 29
Factors Influencing Coping and Familial Response Age of Onset
Diagnosis Severity of Symptoms Proximity of Family Patient Problems
Adaptive Coping Strategies Not Adaptive Individual/ Family Response
Use of Available Resources Perception Based on memory theory, each
member of the family will remember the traumatic event(s)
differently. This impacts family perception, adaptation, and
healing process! What are the implications for traditional homework
assignments like cost letters, etc.?
Slide 30
What Sets Adaptive/Resilient Families Apart? Figley (1989)
identified characteristics of families that tend to cope more
efficiently with stress and trauma: Accept responsibility for
dealing with the situation and to mobilize energy and resources for
action. Shift focus from any one family member and recognize that
it is a problem that the entire family must face together. Move
quickly from a blaming stance to a solution- oriented problem
solving focus. Family members exhibit increased tolerance and
patience for one another. 30
Slide 31
What Sets Adaptive/Resilient Families Apart? Clearly identify
and express emotions associated with the traumatic event and
verbalize their commitment to one another throughout the
posttraumatic process. Allow members to access their own individual
and interpersonal resources, both internal and external to the
family system Reach out for social support with little difficulty
or embarrassment. Finally, they are able to do this without
resorting to impulsive violence or dependence on alcohol or other
drugs. (Figley,1989) 31
Slide 32
Resilience Dennis Charney, M.D., ISTSS Keynote Presentation,
2013 Professor Psychiatry and Neuroscience at Mount Sinai Hospital
Resilience Active Coping Social Support Facing Fears Exercise Role
Model Spirituality / Religion Cognitive Appraisal Moral Compass
Optimism prisoners of war special forces, victims of abuse natural
disaster individuals living in poverty first responders -9/11 Core
beliefs that few things can shatter! To some degree genetic, but
can be learned Much of current resilience based on neurobiology
developed in childhood, adult caring, social competence, capacity
for self reflection and self-regulation. As we begin to shift to a
treatment model that is focused on a more chronic model of
addiction treatment, it struck me that building resilience is one
of the critical components of the treatment process! How do we
already do this? What can we add to really maximize a patients
ability to carry resilience into the next phases of treatment?
Slide 33
Transference/Countertransference Bowen identified roles that
family members may assume during times of high stress/anxiety that
serve to organize the family. Savior Perpetrator Bystander Victim
Usually all family members assume each of the roles at different
times in their day to day life, which, depending on the role and
the meaning that the role has for the individual can make therapy
more difficult.
Slide 34
Transference/Countertransference While working in therapy,
clients will often demonstrate or play out one or more of these
roles, while also projecting other roles out onto the therapist in
the form of transference. Especially important to understand when
working with highly relational traumas such as complex trauma from
incest, abuse, etc. Also important when doing couple or family
therapy around trauma issues. All roles played out in the room at
the same time. It is critical for trauma therapists to understand
how these roles played out in their own life/family and recognize
countertransference issues that could cause conflict or slow down
the therapeutic process.
Slide 35
Clinical considerations: 1.Counselor must present non-anxious
presence & clinical competence Clear awareness of counter
transference issues, personal trauma, etc. 2.All family members
will have their own recollection of what happened and level of
comfort in discussing it. It is important that family members are
able to express their thoughts and recollections without
interruption (in session safety!) 3.Family system behaviors are old
homeostatic mechanisms for keeping family together and functioning.
It is easier for families to induct us into their way of
functioning than to engage in new behavior Be aware of how patterns
repeat throughout different relationships Be conscious of First
order change vs second order change 4.Must develop healing theory
by collaboratively answer 5 Healing Questions (Figley, 1989) 1.
What Happened? 2. Why did it happen? 3. Why did it happen to us? 4.
Why did we react the way we did when it happened? 5. What will we
do differently if it were to happen again?