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Traumatology

A trauma is a physical or psychic injury. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one particular form or type of trauma related to a constellation of symptoms described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) produced by the American Psychiatric Association. However there are other clinical and sub-clinical types and levels of trauma. We have known about psychological trauma for a long time but lost sight of it after World War II until it came into the literature again when soldiers came home from Vietnam with what used to be termed, �shell shock.� Some of the very first schools of social work were located near veterans� and public psychiatric hospitals to provide young women with proper training to help the returning soldiers. In recent years, social work has been returning to the study of trauma and applying it to adult civilians and children.

Two major books that led the current trends in traumatology are Trauma and Recovery by Judith Lewis Herman and Traumatic Stress, by Bessel van der Kolk. There are many good books on the topic. A few are listed below.

Ernest E. Moore, David V. Feliciano, Kenneth L. Mattox (2003). Trauma (5th ed.). McGraw Hill-Professional.
Rothschild, B. (2000). The Body Remembers: The Psychophysiology of Trauma and Trauma Treatment. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Levine, P. & Fredrick, A. (1997). Waking the Tiger : Healing Trauma : The Innate Capacity to Transform Overwhelming Experience. Berkley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
Levy, T & Orleans, M. (1998). Attachment, Trauma, and Healing: Understanding and Treating Attachment Disorder in Children and Families. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America.
James, B. (1994). Handbook for Treatment of Attachment - Trauma Problems in Children. New York: The Free Press.
Frankl, V. (1984). Man's Search For Meaning. New York: Washington Square Press.

Some Excellent Websites Are:

Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD
www.ncptsd.va.gov

The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies
www.istss.org

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network
www.nctsnet.org

Rural Care ~ Crossroads of Healthcare, Culture, Traumatic Stress & Technology
www.isu.edu/~bhstamm/

Starr A.Wood, MSW, Ph.D.

University at Albany

School of Social Welfare