Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2007. / Title from file title page. Gregory J. Jurkovic, Gabriel P. Kuperminc, committee co-chairs; Lisa Armistead, Sarah Cook, committee members. Electronic text (117 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed June 6, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 72-83).

Violent crime and trauma are very common within the society and students at the technikon are as exposed to these traumatic situations that characterize the broader national context as anybody. The purpose of this study was to explore therapeutic intervention techniques that can be used by the educational psychologist in assisting students suffering from post-traumatic stress. The phenomena of post-traumatic stress and post-traumatic stress disorder were studied with reference to the DSM IV classification and description. Traumatic events and stressors among students were outlined. A case study was conducted with a subject selected at the technikon who was suffering from post-traumatic stress due to earlier physical abuse and violence she experienced at home. The Trauma-100-Questionnaire was used to investigate the extent of the trauma and the results showed that the subject was involved with negative self-talk and employed ego defence mechanisms. An analysis of the subject's problem was done through the relations theory and various techniques from the literature study were implemented in therapy with the subject. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

D.Cur. / Armed robbery is one of the most common crimes in South-Africa and often leads to signs of mental problems. The focus of heal services in South Africa is on primary healthcare. Therefore it would be more effective to treat the survivor of armed robbery at the primary level, that is before symptoms of the traumatic reaction convert into mental illness. Therapists observed, however, that survivors of armed robbery terminate therapy prematurely. This might be the reason for failing to use all opportunities to recover within a reasonable period of time. When the survivor of armed robbery does not complete therapy, or does not receive therapy, it leads to a serious decrease in the survivor's mental health status and can necessitate admission and, or treatment with medication. To prevent admission and treatment with medicines, the researcher explored the experience of therapy in order to use the information as a departure point for a model for facilitative interaction for the survivor of armed robbery by the psychiatric nurse. The aim of this research is the description of a model for facilitative interaction for the survivor of armed robbery that can be used by the psychiatric nurse at primary health care level. The researcher followed certain steps to reach the goal. Firstly the experience of the survivor of armed robbery and the experience of the therapist of the survivor of armed robbery following this traumatic incident was explored and described. Phenomenological interviews were conducted with the two target groups, it is the survivors of armed robbery and the therapists of survivors of armed robbery. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed by the researcher and another objective coder. Thereafter a litterature review was done to support the research results which was integrated into the results. Thirdly, concepts were identified, defined and classified in order to create a model for the psychiatric nurse's facilitative interaction with the survivor of armed robbery. Fourthly the structure and process of the model were described and explained by means of illustrations.

M.A. (Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Compassion fatigue (CF) är ett begrepp som introducerades som en form av utmattning för sjuksköterskor. CF utvecklas från att känna ett obehag för medlidande till att i värsta fall övergå till att sjuksköterskan permanent har svårt att känna medlidande. Compassion fatigue användes första gången 1992 och det beskrevs som att sjuksköterskor glömde saker, dess uppmärksamhet minskade och de upplevde utmattning, trötthet, ilska samt kände sig sjuka. De brydde sig mindre och mindre och till slut inte alls.Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva de faktorer som kan orsaka compassion fatigue hos sjuksköterskor inom akutsjukvård.Metoden som användes var en litteraturöversikt. Databas sökningar gjordes via PubMed, CINAHL Complete och PsycINFO varav 18 artiklar inkluderades i resultatet. I denna litteraturöversikt användes både kvalitativa, kvantitativa och mixade artiklar, skrivna mellan 2009- 2019.I resultatet framkom det att de faktorer som kan orsaka CF var sociodemografiska, sociala, arbetsrelaterade, psykologiska och övriga faktorer såsom intag av olika substanser. Bland dessa faktorer fanns stress, chefsstöd och hantering av svåra situationer i form av exempelvis PsyCap.Slutsatsen var att Compassion fatigue är vanligt förekommande bland sjuksköterskor inom akutsjukvård och bör förebyggas för att sjuksköterskor ska kunna stanna kvar i yrket och ge en god och hållbar omvårdnad. / Compassion fatigue (CF) is a concept that was introduced as a form of fatigue for nurses. CF develops from feeling uncomfortable for compassion to, in the worst case, transitioning to the fact that the nurse is permanently having difficulty feeling compassion. Compassion fatigue was first used in 1992 and it was described as nurses forgetting things, their attention diminished and they experienced fatigue, tiredness, anger and feeling sick. They cared less and less and, in the end, not at all.The purpose of this study was to describe the factors that can cause compassion fatigue in nurses in emergency care.The method used was a literature review. Database searches were done via PubMed, CINAHL complete and PsycINFO of which 18 articles were included in the result. This literature review used both qualitative, quantitative and mixed articles, written between 2009 and 2019.The results showed that the factors that could cause CF were socio-demographic, social, work-related, psychological and other factors such as the intake of various substances. Among these factors were stress, support from managers and coping with difficult situations, as for example, PsyCap.The conclusion was that Compassion fatigue is a common occurrence among nurses in emergency care and should be prevented in order for nurses to remain in the profession and provide good and sustainable nursing care.

D.Litt. et Phil. / This research focuses on the development of a short-term cognitive behavioural intervention treatment programme for adult victims of hijackings who developed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result. A programme was developed incorporating previously tested cognitive behavioural techniques and was tailored to the South African context. The need for the study arose out of the serious crime problem facing the South African population.Crime is rampant and has spread to all avenues of people's lives. There is no place that can be presumed to be safe. Being a victim of a car hijacking is a traumatic experience, and the effects thereof are often far-reaching in a person's life. It has been found that many people develop PTSD as a result of an experience, which is out of the range of 'normal' human experience (a trauma).

The aim of this research study was achieved by providing support for the effectiveness and the transportability of the Ehlers and Clark (2000) cognitive therapy model for the assessment and treatment of PTSD. Furthermore, the contextual factors which were important in this case were investigated and documented. However, research within the social sciences will inevitably produce various limitations due to the unique individuals and dynamic phenomena that are studied.

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)

Thesis (PhD (Psychiatry))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / Many gaps remain in our current state of knowledge about the epidemiology, phenomenology, neurobiology, and psychopharmacology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children and adolescents. Empirical evidence, particularly in non-Western settings, is sparse and there is little convergent understanding of the interrelationship of epidemiological factors, PTSD symptom expression, full and partial syndromes, disorders comorbid with PTSD, and pharmacotherapeutic interventions. Clinicians are faced with the difficult task of treating this often complicated and debilitating disorder in youth in the absence of data from well-controlled clinical trials. The studies detailed here are a point of departure for understanding the confluence that exists between epidemiological, phenomenological, and pharmacotherapeutic aspects of adolescent PTSD. Two studies were conducted to investigate the prevalence and effects of violence exposure and PTSD, clinical and functional correlates of full and partial syndromes, and associated gender differences in school and clinic samples, respectively. Two preliminary open-label trials assessed the efficacy and safety of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) in adolescents with at least moderate severity PTSD. The results indicate that (i) partial PTSD is a common nosological entity in adolescents, (ii) gender-related differences in PTSD, even if not manifest in differences in prevalence (i.e., in the rates of trauma exposure and full and partial PTSD), may well manifest in symptom expression (i.e., higher symptom burden in girls), associated morbidity, and functional impairment, and (iii) SSRIs may be effective in treating core PTSD symptoms in this age group. While not yet demonstrated, the partial subtype may have similar biological underpinnings to full PTSD in adolescents and may benefit from similar pharmacotherapeutic interventions. This is an area deserving of further investigation. Controlled SSRI data are needed to establish if these should be agents of choice for paediatric PTSD.

There is currently a crisis in military veteran mental health care. At 5-30% of veterans receive a PTSD diagnosis. Veterans face a large gap that exists in accessing and receiving high quality care. One intervention that is becoming more popular is equine assisted counseling (EAC). The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of Relational Equine-Partnered Counseling (REPC) in reducing symptoms of PTSD in military veterans. I also examined specific PTSD symptom clusters including intrusion, avoidance, negative alterations in cognitions and mood, and alterations in arousal and reactivity. The present study utilized a single-case design consisting of a baseline phase, intervention phase, and post-intervention phase. Participants included four military veterans presenting for war zone-related PTSD: four males and one female, aged 32-67 years, two White/European non-Hispanic, one African American non-Hispanic, and one mixed ethnicity. Symptoms were assessed weekly using the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale and the PTSD Checklist (PCL-5). The data were analyzed by visual analysis and statistical effect size. The results were mixed across the participants. All participants experienced decreased means between the baseline and intervention phases. However, interpretation of the results indicated that the intervention was effective in some areas for some of the participants. All participants reported that the intervention was beneficial in targeting specific symptoms. Overall, the results indicated that REPC may have some benefit in reducing distress related to PTSD. More research is needed to further explore the effectiveness of REPC on the reduction of PTSD-related distress.