Transcrisis States

Many victims of childhood trauma do not seek treatment until they are well into adulthood. Often, their presenting complaints may not directly reflect a childhood trauma, but rather the outcome of a lifelong psychological reaction to the trauma. For instance, a victim of childhood sexual abuse may seek treatment as an adult for a variety of issues, such as depression, alcohol or drug abuse, or insomnia, which may appear unrelated to the abuse.

Analyze the long-term effects of childhood trauma on victims’ mental and physical well-being.

Review the assigned pages in Chapters 1 and 9 of the course text, Crisis Intervention Strategies, and pay particular attention to how exposure to a childhood trauma might result in a transcrisis state.

Review the assigned pages in Chapters 1 and 9 of the course text, Crisis Intervention Strategies, and the article, “Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Mediate the Relation Between Childhood Sexual Abuse and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury.” Consider the destructive behaviors that survivors of childhood sexual abuse might exhibit in the absence of appropriate aftercare.

Review the article, “Signs, Symptoms, and Risk Factors: Health Visitors’ Perspectives of Child Neglect.” Reflect on psychological and physical characteristics associated with neglected children. Think about how such characteristics might be indicative of a transcrisis state.

Review the article, “Posttraumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents Exposed to Family Violence: I. Overview and Issues.” Think about survivors’ cognitive impairments, emotional reactions, and behaviors associated with exposure to family violence. Also, consider how survivors’ relationships are affected by exposure to family violence in childhood.

Review the articles, “The Association between Childhood Abuse, PTSD, and the Occurrence of Adult Health Problems: Moderation via Current Life Stress” and “Research on the Long-Term Effects of Child Abuse.” Consider the long-term psychological and physical effects of child abuse on adult survivors.

Identify a specific type of childhood trauma (e.g., child physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, or exposure to family violence). Think about how exposure to this type of trauma might result in a transcrisis state. Also, reflect on various behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and psychosomatic characteristics of survivors that might be indicative of a transcrisis state.

Assignment: 1-page paper-an explanation of how a specific type of childhood trauma might lead to a transcrisis state among survivors. Then provide at least two specific examples of how survivors’ psychological and/or physical health might be affected by being in a transcrisis state.