The purpose of this study is to tell the story of lay trauma counsellors - how the work they do affects them, what helps them to cope and what hinders their coping. The epistemological framework of this study is constructivism. This study involved in-depth interviews with three lay trauma counsellors from different cultural backgrounds who counselled for a minimum of one year. Hermeneutics was the method used to analyse the data. The stories of participants were recounted through the researcher’s lens in the form of specific themes that emerged for individual participants. Recurring themes evident in the stories of all three participants were discussed and compared with the literature. The information gleaned could be valuable to organisations considering setting up lay trauma programmes, to those with established programmes, as well as to prospective and experienced lay counsellors. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Despite the growing recognition of the prevalence of domestic violence worldwide, there is an increasing number of women reporting abuse, and there are those who have died at the hands of their abusers. Many of these domestic violence situations involve children who grow up carrying the physical and/or emotional scars of abuse into adulthood, which also has negative implications for their social well-being. This study adopts a qualitative approach to analysing emerging themes relating to the experiences of eight adult participants (four men and four women) who have lived in domestically violent homes during their childhood. The study deals with definitions of abuse, the social, physical, emotional, cognitive, behavioural and psychological effects of abuse and identifies the social consequences of growing up in a violent home. With reference to the research interviews, it is the researcher’s finding that if there is violence in the home, children’s socialisation will be impaired. The results of the study support the hypothesis that the socialisation of adults and their ability to form healthy relationships are hindered by being exposed to domestic violence during childhood. In terms of the goals of intervention, the basic principle is that children need to be provided with a safe environment, appropriate discipline and a secure relationship with an attentive caregiver. The ultimate goal of intervention is to prevent further harm and promote recovery. Socio-educational goals include being taught to communicate and settle differences without the use of violence, to promote the development of well-adjusted social beings. / Educational Foundations / M. Ed. (Socio-Education)

O proposito deste estudo e avaliar o impacto psicologico da vivencia hospitalar de individuos que sofrem complicacoes pos-operatoria, partindo do pressuposto de que a intercorrencia agrava o quadro clinico com repercussoes na esfera psiquica destes pacientes. Teoricamente enfoca a evolucao do conceito de trauma na teoria freudiana, partindo do desamparo primordial (hilflosigkeit) ate a nova concepcao de angustia, levando em consideracao o fator economico, a nocao de a posteriori (nachträglichkeit) e a compulsao a repeticao. Com o intuito de ampliar a compreensao do fenomeno, o estudo percorre a etiologia do trauma para outros teoricos: Sandor Ferenczi, sobre o narcisismo da doenca; Donald W. Winnicott, que correlaciona o trauma a vivencia do fracasso do ambiente, a imprevisibilidade, ao excesso de tempo de exposicao a situacao desorganizadora, e a elevacao do nivel de dependencia. A constancia desta situacao leva ao que Maksud Khan nomeou de trauma cumulativo. A hipotese e a de que esta experiencia hospitalar pode promover um trauma psiquico, na medida em que o individuo se ve diante de uma situacao imprevisivel, que pode lhe causar transbordamento emocional pelo estado de desamparo, impotencia e risco da perda de sua integridade fisica -, que inibe uma elaboracao psiquica. Apos a alta hospitalar tais fatores podem, ainda, desencadear efeitos pos-traumaticos, acarretando-lhe, assim, uma dificuldade adaptativa. Para Moty Benyakar isto significa que o evento disruptivo pode promover um vivenciar traumatico dado a magnitude do impacto no psiquismo. Metodologicamente, para melhor compreensao do processo psiquico, faz-se um estudo longitudinal, de seis sujeitos, iniciando enquanto estes se encontram hospitalizados (situacao potencialmente traumatica), tres e seis meses apos a alta hospitalar. Na aplicacao do metodo qualitativo o estudo baseia-se na coleta de dados com entrevistas e na aplicacao reduzida da tecnica projetiva do TAT (Thematic Apperception Test). Pelo metodo quantitativo os pacientes sao submetidos a aplicacao da escala de avaliacao do transtorno de estresse pos-traumatico (CAPS Clinician Administred PTDS Scale). Esta pesquisa foi realizada em Hospital Escola de Universidade Publica, apos a aprovacao do Comite de Etica desta instituicao e do Comite de Etica para Seres Humanos do Instituto de Psicologia da Universidade de Sao Paulo. Atraves dos resultados obtidos na pesquisa pode-se constatar que ha uma relacao direta entre o evento e os seus efeitos no psiquismo. Pelo proprio carater disruptivo da instituicao hospitalar, dos encargos dos problemas de saude e do entorno (familiar, socioeconomico) o individuo vivencia uma vulnerabilidade fisica e psiquica. Contudo constatou-se que a dimensao da repercussao psiquica esta diretamente associada ao quadro clinico dos pesquisados, e ao tempo que ficam expostos a situacao potencialmente traumatica. Sendo este um fator fundamental na incidencia dos sintomas do Transtorno de Estresse Pos-traumatico. Com base neste estudo psicologico das complicacoes pos-operatorias, espera-se possibilitar aos profissionais de saude um novo olhar ao promover sua conscientizacao sobre problemas advindos desta experiencia, nao so aos individuos como, tambem, aos familiares, levantando a possibilidade de, se necessario, recorrerem a uma assistencia psicologica e/ou psiquiatrica / The objective of this study is to assess the psychological impact in subjects who stay in hospital after suffering from post-operative complications, on the assumption that the clinical picture gets worse causing troubles in the psychic area of these patients. Theoretically it focuses the evolution of the concept of trauma according to Freudian theory, since the primordial abandonment (hilflosigkeit) up to the new concept of distress, considering the economical situation, the concept of a posteriori (nachtraglichkeit) and the repetition compulsion. Aiming to offer a deeper understanding of the phenomenon, the study works with the etiology of trauma by other theorists: Sandor Ferenczi, about the narcissism of the disorder; Donald W. Winnicott, who relates the trauma to the experience of the environment failure, the unpredictability, the length of time facing a disordering situation, and the raising in dependence level. The constancy of this situation leads to what Maksud Khan called as cumulative trauma. The hypothesis is that in-hospital experience might provide a psychic trauma in so far as the subject has faced an unpredictable situation that might cause an overflow of emotions feeling abandoned, powerless and at the risk of losing physical integrity -, inhibiting a psychic elaboration. After having been discharged from hospital, such factors might also trigger post traumatic effects, implying into an adapting difficulty. According to Moty Benyakar, the disruptive event might provide a traumatic experience due to the great impact in the psychism. Methodologically for a better understanding of the psychic process, a longitudinal study has been made, with a number x of subjects, starting while they are in hospital (a potentially traumatic situation), from three to six months after they had been discharged from hospital. Applying the qualitative method the study has been based on the data collected through interviews and in the reduced application of the projective technique of TAT ( Thematic Apperception Test). Through the quantitative method the patients have been submitted to the application of the evaluation scale on the post-traumatic stress disorder (CAPS - Clinician Administered PTDS Scale). This research was carried out at the Hospital Escola da Universidade Publica, after the approval of the Comite de Etica ( Ethics Committee) of this institution and the Comite de Etica para Seres Humanos ( Ethics Committee for Human Beings) of the Instituto de Psicologia (Psychology Institute) of Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP). Through the results provided by the research, it was observed that there is a direct relation between the event and the effects in the psychism. For the own disruptive aspect in hospital, the burdens of health disorders and other surroundings ( familiar, socio- economic problems), the subject lives in a physical and psychic vulnerability. However it was pointed out that the dimension of the psychic repercussion is directly linked to the clinical picture of the six subjects who are studied, and the length of time that they have been exposed to the potentially traumatic situation. And this factor is extremely important in the incidence of the symptoms of the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. This psychological study of the post- traumatic surgery complications is meant to bring to health professionals much more awareness about the problems that come after this experience, not only for the subjects as well as to the relatives, who should be allowed to require, whenever necessary, some psychological and/or psychiatric treatment

Freud iniciou suas reflexões sobre o trauma partindo da etiologia das neuroses e da sua proposta do aparelho de linguagem. Após considerar a relação do trauma com a fantasia, vinculou-o à repetição e à pulsão de morte, dando ênfase ao inassimilável da experiência e propondo uma saída pela narrativa. Se Freud considerou a sexualidade traumática, Lacan propôs a existência de linguagem do ser falante como traumática. Do trauma ao troumatismo, suas elaborações sobre o tema apontam ao que excede o simbólico e o imaginário, aludindo o real: a tique e o troumatismo, e apontando no limite da fala, a escrita. Esse trabalho é um percurso passo a passo que nos permite levantar algumas questões para o que nomeamos clínica do trauma. Trata-se de uma clínica que deve operar com o inassimilável do instante traumático como primeiro modo de intervenção, o qual exige que possamos pensar suas particularidades / Freud began his reflections on trauma based on the etiology of neuroses and his proposal of the language device. After considering the relationship of trauma with the fantasy, linked it to the repetition and the death instinct, emphasizing the unassimilable aspect experience and proposing a way out by the narrative. If Freud considered traumatic sexuality, Lacan proposed the existence of the language of the talking being as being traumatic. From trauma to troumatismo, his elaborations on the topic point to what exceeds the symbolic and the imaginary, alluding to the real: the tyche and troumatismo, and pointing out at the limit of speech the writing. This work is a step-by-step route that allows us to raise some issues for which we call the trauma clinic. This is a clinic that must operate with the unassimilable aspect of the traumatic instant as a first mode of intervention, which requires us to be able to think about its particularities

D.Litt et Phil. / For over a decade, from the late 1970's to October 1992, a war raged in Mozambique that resulted in what has been described as, one of the "most terrible genocides in the history of Africa". Over 4 million people were displaced during this war. Conservative estimates put the number of Mozambicans who sought refuge in South Africa at 250 000. This study examines the trauma created by the war, and its psycho-social outcomes, from the perspective of women refugees who came to settle in villages in the Nkomazi region of Mpumalanga province, in South Africa. Posttraumatic stress disorder, the concept which dominates research in the field of trauma studies, was based on research with male war veterans in western industrial societies. Recently a body of work has emerged which questions the validity of applying posttraumatic stress disorder to contexts of massive social conflict, and its utility in cross cultural contexts. This body of work suggests that an understanding of extreme trauma and its outcomes requires careful consideration of the social and cultural dimensions of trauma. The inclusion of a cultural formulation in the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorder, DSM-IV, reinforces a growing acknowledgement amongst mental health researchers of the influence of culture on mental health and disorder. The gaps in research on African women survivors of war and the lack of standardised assessment tools, makes this an exploratory study which uses qualitative research methods. Unstructured interviews were conducted with 30 Mozambican women refugees to explore their experiences and definitions of trauma, the psycho-social outcomes of the trauma, and coping and survival in the aftermath of the war. The magnitude of the trauma evident in the research findings called for a conceptual definition which reflects multiple risks and the interdependence of social and individual trauma. Thematic analysis and qualitative coding of the interview data revealed clinically well defined posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and locally specific discourses of suffering framed by cultural beliefs, social practices and historical experiences. Their testimony and observations in the field, revealed that the survivors demonstrated a capacity to survive and reconstruct their lives. Their coping strategies and survival tactics were fundamentally shaped by socio-historical experiences and the limits and possibilities contained in the recovery environment. The results of this study suggest an approach to examining the complex relationship between trauma and its consequences, which abstracts neither trauma nor its victims from cultural and social-historical contexts.

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / The main aim of this research inquiry was to explore the use of indigenous knowledge by Black-African educational psychologists in South Africa when working with children who have been traumatised. I hoped that the results would provide a better understanding of how indigenous knowledge can be applied in therapeutic interventions in a way that takes into account the client’s cultural preferences. Mental health professionals are becoming more aware that cultural customs and beliefs have considerable influence on therapeutic interventions. The Western conceptualisation of health and illness is insufficient in a culturally diverse society like the one found in South Africa. There is a need to explore how traditional concepts can be incorporated into psychology and how indigenous knowledge can contribute to the wellbeing of a person, from a culturally congruent worldview. In indigenous knowledge, there is recognition that communities have their own definition of healing needs and strategies when addressing trauma. The perception and beliefs about the causation, communication and acknowledgement of the problem are all culturally constructed and can influence psychotherapy. However, there is a lack of research on applying indigenous knowledge in therapy, specifically in the context of children who have been exposed to exploitative trauma (abuse) and loss (death). As such, there is a need in South Africa for the development of psychotherapeutic interventions that are culturally valid, which can be applied to children who have been traumatised. The research approach employed within this study is qualitative. A phenomenological design was followed. The overarching framework was that of social constructivism. I interviewed five black educational psychologists who live in the Gauteng area through the use of snowball sampling. Data was generated through semi-structured interviews. The data collection and analysis process was done through the use of thematic analysis, whereby certain themes were revealed. The psychotherapeutic interventions that were discerned were based mostly on the trauma children experienced due to child abuse and the death of parents. These included 1) use of oral traditions comprising stories, folklore, proverbs and metaphors; 2) rituals, comprising visiting the grave, communication with ancestors through the slaughter of animals and cleansing ceremonies involving the slaughter of animals; 3) games, specifically masekitlana; 4) music, especially singing and drums; 5) the use of Ubuntu to support clients through care, as well as using available family systems to promote systemic support. These interventions are thought to be useful as they are non-threatening; they allow clients to express themselves, they are a way of relating/identifying, they release emotion and they help to release any “impurity”. With the choice of psychotherapeutic interventions, it is important to consider the “goodness of fit” or congruency between the culture and belief system of both the therapist and client. The findings of the study could make a contribution to the field of psychotherapy in South Africa, since it makes a strong case for the inclusion of psychotherapeutic interventions that are sensitive to cultural differences and meet the needs of children’s cultural beliefs.

This thesis explores various dilemmas in making theatre performances in the context of social disruption, trauma and death. Diverse discourses are drawn in to consider issues of body, subjectivity and spectatorship, refracted through the writer’s experiences of and discontent with making theatre. Written in a fractal-like structure, rather than a linear progression, this thesis unsettles discourses of truth, thus simultaneously intervening in debates about the epistemologies of the body and of theatre in context of the academy. Chapter 1: Methodological Anxieties Psychoanalytic theory provides a way in for investigating the dynamics of theatrical performance and its corporeal presence, by focusing on desire and its implication in the notions of loss and anxiety. The theories of the unconscious and the gaze have epistemological implications, shifting definitions of “presence” and “truth” in theatre performance and writing about theatre. This chapter tries to outline the rationale for, as well as to enact, an alternative methodology for writing, as an ethical response to loss that does not insist on consensus and truth. Chapter 2: (Refusing to) Look at Trauma This chapter examines the politics that strives to make suffering visible. Discursive binaries of public/private, dead/living, and invisible/visible underlie the politics of AIDS and sexuality. These discourses impact on the reception of Bill T. Jones's choreography, despite his use of modernist artistic processes in search of a bodily presence that aims to collapse the binary of representation (text) and its subject (being). The theory of the gaze shows this politics to be a phallocentric discourse; and narrative analysis traces the metanarrative that results in the commodification of oppositional identities, so that spectators participate in the politics as consumers. An ethical artistic response thus needs to shift its focus to the subjectivity of the spectator. Chapter 3: The Screen and the Viewer’s Blindness By appealing to a transcendent reality, and by constituting spectators as a participative community, ritual theatre claims to enact change. The “truth” of ritual rests not on rational knowledge, but on the performer’s competence to produce a shamanic presence, which director Brett Bailey embraces in his early work. Ritual presence operates by identification and belonging to a father/god as the source of meaning; but it represses the loss of this originary wholeness. Spectators of ritual theatre are drawn into an enactment of communion/community, the centre of which is, however, loss/emptiness. The claim of enacting change becomes problematic for its absence of truth. Bailey attempts to perform a hybrid, postcolonial aesthetics; but the problem rests in the larger context of performing the notion of “South Africa”, a communal identity hardened around the metanarrative of suffering, abjecting those that do not belong to the land of the father/god – foreigners that unsettle the meaning of South African identity. Conclusion: Bodies of Discontent The South African stage is circumscribed by political and economic discourses; the problematization of national identity is also a problematization of image-identification in the theatre. In search for a way to unsettle these interrogative discourses, two moments of performing foreignness are examined, one fictional, one theatrical. These moments enact a parallel to the feminine hysteric, who disturbs the phallocentric truth of the psychoanalyst through body performance. These moments of disturbing spectatorship are reflected in the works of performance artist Marina Abramovic. Her explorations into passive-aggression, shamanism and finally theatricality and the morality of spectatorship allow for an overview of the issues raised in this thesis regarding body, viewing, and subjecthood. Sensitivity to the body and its discontent on the part of the viewer becomes crucial to ethical performance.

Experts in traumatology have postulated traumatized children play differently than non-traumatized children. These differences are called posttraumatic play and include the behaviors of intense play, repetitive play, play disruption, avoidant play and negative affect. The purpose of this study is the continued development of the Trauma Play Scale through the addition of a normative sample. The Trauma Play Scale is an observation-based instrument designed to distinguish the play behaviors of children in play therapy with a history of interpersonal trauma when compared to non-traumatized children. The present study compares two samples of children. One group (n=6) currently in play therapy with a history of interpersonal trauma and another group (n=7) considered normally developing (cognitively, emotionally, socially, and physically) by their parents with no known history of interpersonal trauma. Trained raters blind to the trauma history of the children rated a series of eight consecutive video-recorded play therapy sessions for each participant. One-way analysis of variance statistics, including effect sizes were compute to determine the discriminant validity of the Trauma Play Scale. Traumatized children scored significantly higher on the Trauma Play Scale than non-traumatized children on all domains of the scale as well as the overall Average Trauma Play Scale score. Large effect sizes indicated strong relationships between group membership (trauma history versus normally developing) and scores on the Trauma Play Scale.

This thesis examines the captivity narrative, Three Came Home, written in 1947 by Agnes Newton-Keith, and the poverty narrative, Without a Net: Middle Class and Homeless (with Kids) in America: My Story, written in 2005 by Michelle Kennedy. When examined together through the lens of Trauma Theory, these narratives provide evidence of how similar the survival skills and strategies are between the American female POW's and the American females experiencing downward mobility. This thesis will also show how language uncovers and decodes the presence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder not often associated with women in poverty.

In 2010, my wife and I were harmed in a bombing while traveling in India. Over a thousand people were attending the outdoor Hindu ceremony along the Ganges in Varanasi but when I woke up in the rubble no one was there. I searched for my wife amidst the concrete debris, found her unconscious, roused her, and we fled. This thesis is an examination of that gap in my experience, that unlived and unknown lapse of time-- between the moment I was blown off my feet by the blast wind until I stood up again-- and how it has reshaped my life. Circling that gap, a gap now filled with surrogate memories (e.g. others' accounts of the stampede after the explosion, photos of the destruction that we never saw first-hand), this thesis looks at the history that my wife and I unwittingly stumbled into, of the Babri Mosque and the Hindu-Muslim cycle of violence surrounding its existence, its destruction and the destruction's aftermath. Mainly, however it is about the marriage of two bombing victims, two bombing victims who have nearly the same physical injuries and thus for years have fooled themselves into believing they understand what the other is going through. It circles not only the unlived bombing "experience" but also the unspoken differences between how they've both been affected by the trauma. Blast wind physics, ear anatomy and physiology (the main site of their injuries), trauma research, and Hindu, Muslim and Buddhist history and comsology are all used in service of this investigation.