In focus: Mental health

22 October 2012

Hollywood Clinic’s holistic approach is helping women who experienced childhood trauma

WITH THE aim to become a centre of excellence in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),

Hollywood Clinic has developed a successful program for women who have experienced childhood trauma.

The Hollywood Clinic, located on the leafy grounds of Hollywood Private Hospital in the Perth suburb of Nedlands, has a long established PTSD program. The original PTSD service, which began in 1995, was for Vietnam veterans and continues to attract a near full house. Over the years, the PTSD initiative has diversified and expanded, offering, for example, treatment for other uniformed personnel traumatised in the line of duty – including police, fire brigade, ambulance, prison, and railway officers.

22 October 2012

Women’s Trauma Recovery program

To address the void in treatment programs for women who have experienced trauma, particularly those specifically tailored for adult survivors of early childhood abuse, the trauma team’s most recent development has been a much-needed 14-week Women’s Trauma Recovery Program.

Psychological trauma, like physical trauma, occurs when an event exceeds a person’s capacity to protect his or her mental wellbeing. Trauma represents a complex relationship between an event and a response that must take into account the vulnerabilities of the particular individual, their environment and the availability of resources required for recovery.

When a child is exposed to trauma, their level of development makes them more vulnerable. The experience of being abused by a caretaker stands in stark contrast to the innocence, safety, simplicity and carefree ways that we as a society usually associate with childhood years. Furthermore, children’s external resources are far more limited than those of adults as they are less likely to have a choice about where they live or on whom they depend.

“Childhood abuse can derail the normal course of development and deprive the individual of important learning experiences that foster healthy and effective life skills,” explained Douglas Brewer, Clinical Psychologist at the Hollywood Clinic and Coordinator of the Women’s Trauma Recovery Program.

“These include basic and complex skills such as the capacity for sustained attention, the capacity to express feelings effectively and appropriately, the capacity to use emotions as a guide for action and the capacity to relate well to others and enjoy relationships.”

The Hollywood Clinic’s new program focuses on providing survivors of childhood trauma with the emotional and social skills they did not obtain due to a diminished nurturing environment and the burden of managing the abuse – often alone or in secret.

“By the time a trauma survivor comes to therapy, she has often reached the limits of her capacity to function and is likely to be feeling demoralised and defeated. It’s often an act of desperation,” said Douglas.

“Our treatment team’s primary task is to

sustain and strengthen hope. Hope emerges from a sense of being understood and a belief in the possibility of change.”

At its core, the program empowers women to develop the internal resources and emotional regulation skills that were stunted in early years. The approach uses a blend of principles from the cognitive-behavioural and the attachment-interpersonal-objective relational traditions in a two-phased treatment framework.

The first phase of this treatment, Skills Training for Affective and Interpersonal Regulation (STAIR), has been explicitly developed to generate and strengthen social and emotional resources for effective living. The second phase of treatment, Narrative Story Telling (NST) provides a structure and strategy for approaching, managing, and organising traumatic experiences that have been unaddressed but are still quite alive with emotional power.

“The uniqueness of the program lies in its holistic approach that focuses on the complex co-occurring difficulties, such as substance

abuse, self-harm or eating disorders,” said Douglas. “These symptoms are seen as a reasonable protective response to an extremely destabilising set of events and we look at the trauma in addition to how it has created the secondary disorders.

“Outcomes have been positive, with women who have completed the program reporting their ability to be more assertive in relationships and working environments. Clients also report their renewed engagement in social and occupational pursuits previously beyond their reach.”

The Trauma Team at Hollywood consistently strives for excellence, reviewing and refining each program regularly from experience and current research to ensure they meet client needs and enable them to maximise their recovery. Hollywood Private Hospital is committed to the training and development of the new generation of allied health and medical staff, and the trauma programs provide a unique opportunity for students to experience group and individual therapy first hand.

OUR TREATMENT TEAM’S PRIMARY TASK IS TO SUSTAIN

AND STRENGTHEN HOPE ‘‘ ‘‘

Hollywood Clinic exterior

October 2012 23