Thesis (Ph. D.)--Brigham Young University Dept. of Marriage and Family Therapy, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 60-64).

This dissertation was an exploratory research study using a cross-sectional survey design to examine the impact of ecological, environmental, psychological, and financial hardship on counselors of the U.S. Gulf Region. Since 2005, the U.S. Gulf Region, unlike any other region of the United States, has faced multiple disasters including Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Ike and Gustav (Walsh, 2010), the Great Recession (Conant, 2010), and the largest ecological disaster in the history of the United States, the BP Oil Spill (Gray, 2010). The purpose of this study was to explore the attitudes and characteristics of counselors in one U.S. Gulf State, specifically Mississippi, to obtain valuable information about compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction of counselors as measured by the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) (Stamm, 2009). The researcher used a demographic survey and the ProQOL (Stamm) for analyses. The researcher collected the ProQOL (Stamm) sub-scale scores of 282 Mississippi counselors who attended the 60th Annual Mississippi Counseling Conference. The counselors recorded high compassion satisfaction scores, low burnout scores and low secondary traumatic stress scores. Additionally, the researcher used one-way MANOVAs to examine the main effects of counselor characteristics such as educational level, gender, geographic location, self-care methods, and years of experience on the ProQOL (Stamm) sub-scale means of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. The researcher found two statistically significant differences in gender and years of experience. Male participants’ burnout and secondary traumatic stress scores were significantly less than female participants’ burnout and secondary traumatic stress scores. Participants with 1-10 years of experience recorded statistically significant higher burnout scores and lower compassion satisfaction scores than participants with less than one year of experience, 10-20 years of experience, and more than 20 years of experience. In contrast to assumptions related to the ecological, environmental, psychological, and financial hardship present in this region, high levels of satisfaction was found in counselors who serve this region. The researcher found that despite the impact of these multiple traumatic events these counselors were satisfied with their work.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2005. / Bibliography: leaves 44-54.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2003. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-101). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ86319

<p><font face="Times New Roman"> <p align="left">Limitations of the study include the issue of counsellor variables and the fact that the participants varied between receiving a debriefing on a group or individual basis. The experience of the trauma debriefings were explored but more specific information relating to debriefing could have been elicited. Therefore, these findings cannot be generalised and further research could<font face="Times New Roman"> explore the utility and efficacy of trauma debriefing.</font></p> </font></p>

The main aim of this thesis has been to investigate trauma and dissociation among Swedish adolescents and to evaluate the psychometric properties such as reliability and various kinds of validity of three screening instruments for assessment of dissociation and other symptoms of post traumatic stress. The three instruments in question have been Dis-Q-Sweden, A-DES and TSCC, the symptoms measured by these instruments are neither easy to capture nor easy for the adolescent to talk about. Therefore these self report scales are essential. A second aim has been to compare the results with results from other countries and to develop preliminary Swedish norms for the clinician to use. Age and gender differences have been looked upon as well as assessed symptoms connected to known experienced trauma/sexual and/or physical abuse and self-reported trauma in normal and clinical populations. The populations, in this thesis have been children and adolescents age 10 -19 years old from the general population; the clinical groups have had the same age range. All children and adolescents in the clinical groups have been sexually and/or physically abused. Participants have answered the questionnaires Dis-Q-Sweden, A-DES and/or TSCC and their answers have been statistically analysed. All three instruments have been shown to have good reliability, such as internal consistency and test-retest. Validity has been established through factor analyses, concurrent, and criterion related validity. Clinical groups with known experienced trauma/sexual abuse and/or physical abuse gave significantly higher scores on all the instruments compared to normative groups. Also self-reported trauma in a normative group gave significantly higher scores even if the significances are not as high as between the normative and clinical groups. Girls scored significantly higher than boys in both the clinical and normative groups. Girls in the age range 14-15 years old gave the significantly highest scores on both Dis-Q-Sweden and ADES. Swedish adolescents gave lower mean scores on all three instruments than have been reported from other studies in other countries. The scores from the clinical groups gave about the same mean as have been reported elsewhere. The conclusion from this thesis is that all the three questionnaires Dis-Q-Sweden, A-DES and TSCC have shown satisfactory psychometrics properties and can very well be used by Swedish clinicians in Child and Adolescents Psychiatry.

The main focus of this study was to investigate how Swedish military veterans experience that events during an international service affect them after completed mission. This also includes the contact with their relatives. Secondly, this study deals with the course of the crisis, personal defense mechanisms, cumulative stress and post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD). The study was performed using a qualitative method and comprises individual interviews with six Swedish veterans. The responders were all men of different military positions, who participated in one or more international missions during 1993 to 2011. The results of this study show that, according to the veterans, the return back home is the most strenuous part of an international mission. With all the new experiences that an international service brings fresh in their memories, it is hard to re-adjust to the life of a civilian. In connection with the return back home, different degrees of stress reactions were also commonly seen, for example sleep disturbance, restlessness and exhaustion. One of the veterans being interviewed was also affected by post-traumatic stress syndrome, although healthy again at the time of the study.

Personer som genomgått en traumatisk händelse befinner sig i riskzonen för att utveckla post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), som innebär en stor livsbegränsning och ett stort lidande. Dagligen möter hälso- och sjukvårdspersonal personer som ännu ej diagnostiserats och det är därför av vikt att kunna identifiera PTSD-symptom. Syftet med litteraturstudien var att undersöka samband mellan olika trauman och PTSD-symptom enligt diagnostiseringssystemet DSM IV. Studien grundades på en deduktiv ansats och resultatet bestod av 15 vetenskapliga artiklar som granskades. Resultatet behandlade DSM IV:s tre symptomkluster: re-experience/intrusion, avoidance och hyperarousal. Studien fann att det kan föreligga en skillnad mellan olika typer av trauma och vilka PTSD-symptom som var det mest frekvent upplevda. Det framkom också i studien att re-experience/intrusion och avoidance var de kluster som var mest frekventa hos dem som uppvisade PTSD-symptom efter ett trauma. Det finns ett behov av en utökad kvalitativ forskning inom området PTSD-symptom, samtidigt som hälso- och sjukvårdpersonal är i behov av att hålla sig uppdaterade när det kommer till de symptom som är ett resultat av sjukdomen. Det är av vikt att synliggöra PTSD och att låta kunskapen kring psykisk ohälsa få mer utrymme under sjuksköterskeutbildningen. För att tidigare kunna identifiera PTSD krävs en utförligare anamnes, där sjuksköterskan kan synliggöra tidigare upplevda trauman hos personen. Personer som hälso- och sjukvården vet har genomgått ett tidigare trauma kan vara i behov att screenas för PTSD.

The present study investigates the effects of cognitive inhibitory mechanisms and tendency to suppress thoughts on the frequency and intensity of traumatic intrusions within the trauma film paradigm. Non clinical participants&rsquo / response inhibition and proactive inhibition levels and tendency to suppress thoughts were measured prior to exposure to a trauma film. One week after seeing the trauma film, participants reported the frequency and intensity of trauma film related intrusions with an intrusion diary and Impact of Events Scale. No significant effect of response inhibition, proactive inhibition and thought suppression tendency was found on the frequency and intensity of trauma film related intrusions. Findings of the study are discussed.

<p>This essay discusses the perceived case of post-traumatic stress disorder in Leslie Marmon Silko's character Tayo from the novel Ceremony, using personal accounts of actual PTSD-suffering war veterans as a point of reference. The goal is to fathom the influence that culture may have in the development and healing of PTSD, and to identify possible trans-cultural aspects. The main focus of the analysis is therefore on personal background, interpersonal relationships, post-war experiences, and experienced symptoms.</p>