TRAUMA COUNSELLING

 

“...stressors are omnipresent in human existence…” in fact, ’the human condition is stressful’ (Antonovsky). 

 

As in the life coaching programme the client tells me his/her story and from there on I try to facilitate the client: we try to understand what is happening to the client or what has happened to the client. Together we try to make sense of the trauma and work on how the client could take his/her power back again.

 

The concept of Antonovsky “Sense of Coherence” helps us in finding a ‘global orientation’ which is explained in the following paragraphs.

 

Researchers considered the Sense of Coherence (SOC) as ‘the core construct of Antonovsky’s salutogenic model’ (Schumann et al., 2003: 409-421). The SOC is a dispositional orientation, not a state or a trate. It embraces components of perception, memory, information processing and affect into habitual patterns of appraisal, based on repeated experiences of sense-making that have been facilitated by GRR’s*. It also  translates into a repertoire of concrete behaviours, built upon experiences of success in dealing with many   situations (Strümpfer, 1990: 268).

 

According to Antonovsky the SOC is a global orientation that expresses the extent to which one has a pervasive enduring though dynamic feeling of confidence that:

i. The stimuli deriving from one’s internal and external environments in the course of living are structured, 

    predictable and explicable. 

ii. The resources are available to one to meet the demands posed by these stimuli. 

iii. These demands are challenges, worthy of investment and engagement.  

 

These three portions of the definition describe the three core components which Antonovsky identified on the basis of a qualitative study of fifty one persons who had experienced major trauma with inescapable major consequences for their lives but were thought (by the individuals who identified them for the study) to be    coping remarkably well.

     

With Antonovsky as our guide, I use different techniques simultaneously with the Relation’s Theory which focus on the following aspects: ego; self; identities; self concept; self talk; self realisation; attribution of meaning; experience; involvement.

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* According to Antonovsky, what is common to all generalized resistance resources (GRR’s) is that they help making sense out of stressors with which individuals are constantly bombarded (Antonovsky, 1987: 47-55). Through repeated experience of such sense-making, a person develops over time a strong sense of coherence. Antonovsky’s generalized resistance resources can facilitate effective tension management in any situation of demand. Some GRR’s include:

 

i. Physical and biochemical GRR’s like immunosuppresors and potentiators.

ii.            Artefactual-material GRR’s – wealth (that can buy food, clothing. etc), power, status, services. 

iii.         Cognitive GRR’s particularly knowledge intelligence (avoiding AIDS or carcinogens).

iv.         The emotional GRR of ego identity.

v. Coping strategies (overall plans of action for overcoming stressors).

vi.         Interpersonal-relational GRR’s (social support, commitment).

vii.        Macrosociocultural GRR’s of ‘ready answers provided by one’s culture and its social 

             structure’ (religion) (Strümpfer, 1990: 268).