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researching in this area has lead to the co-creation of data-driven definitions
of four important terms: trauma, power, agency, and resilience. Each of these terms has well-developed definitions across multiple academic and lay bodies of literature; however, my research participants and clients have often found those definitions to be irrelevant or harmful to their transitions to non- violence, necessitating more clinically viable perspectives. It is their hope and mine that sharing these alternative, de- pathologized definitions may help clients and professionals working across a broad range of trauma areas.
Clinical definitions of trauma often focus on diagnostic criteria related to symptoms of ongoing distress. Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2017) defines it as a wound,
“a disordered psychic or behavioral
state resulting from severe mental or emotional stress or physical injury,”
or an “emotional upset.” While these perspectives have value, my research (Neustifter, 2009; Tambling, Neustifter, Muska, Reckert, & Rua, 2012; Neustifter & Powell, 2015; Neustifter, Rhijn, & Pitman, 2015) supports a broader understanding: trauma may have occurred when something challenging in life leaves an imprint on us that changes the ways we think, feel, process, behave, or otherwise live our lives. Only the impacted individuals can determine if a trauma has occurred, and the degree of the trauma.
It is not necessary to have a “disorderd state,” wound, or even emotional upset. While assessments may be utilized to guide treatment, this definition reflects the experiences of survivors who feel best able to choose when this term applies to them.
Once trauma has been identified, questions of power often arise. The survivors that I have interviewed and spoken with have almost universally noted a situation, series of situations, or an ongoing situation in which they have felt powerless or much less powerful than the oppressive or harming person, people, or situations. Survivors described a phenomenon that is akin to anti- oppression concepts of power: higher influence with lower consequences.
This approach recognizes some of the complexities that occur in trauma work
and resilience, such as reflecting on incidents with the feeling that one could have done something more, but didn’t. This definition allows us to realize the potential reality that exerting influence over the situation, abuser, or oppressor may have come at too great of a cost at the time, if it was possible at all.
While survivors may have had little access to power, this research suggests that agency is always there, as defined across participants. My research suggests that agency may be defined
as: actions, thoughts, inactions, or silencing of thoughts that preserve
parts of our identities or align with beliefs and values that are core to our identities. Agency may preserve our lives, or not. Resistance is one example, but it is not the only one. Consider the potential importance of not resisting; there are many ways to preserve our core identities and values, including ideas like compliance. Agency may look messy or convoluted from the outside or in retrospect, but we maintain faith in its presence even if it is no longer possible to reconstruct the reasoning behind it
at the time. Separating the concepts of agency and power opens possibilities for the simultaneous presence of oppression with covert and overt self-preservation.
And what about resilience? The American Psychological Association (2017) defines resilience as “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress.” These thoughts were echoed by participants, but they also added an important element. Interviews suggested that resilience might be defined as: the ability to reclaim our lives and ourselves after trauma, to redefine success for ourselves, and to move toward it. The redefinition of success, and movement toward it, were repeated themes within the data. Often the elimination of symptoms of trauma ceased to be a goal. Instead, healthy
and positive acclimatization and the reduction of distress over symptoms became a frequent goal. Nightmares may not cease, for example, but the ability to recover from them faster and consider them a sign of courage and
an opportunity to connect with new nonviolent partners turned nightmares
from signs of unwellness to indicators of elements of resilience. Ongoing struggle and resilience were not mutually exclusive for interviewees.
In this issue of FTM we will explore topics such as cultural violence, suicidality, teaching future generations of student-therapists about trauma, improving resources and approaches for HIV+ clients, bystander witnesses, and interactions with the judicial and punitive systems. There are many ways in which to consider and approach violence, but the themes of power, agency, trauma, and resilience echo across each. By inviting our clients
to reconsider the meanings of these terms, we may be able to nurture fresh, more diverse, and less pathologizing conversations toward greater healing. I invite you to read each contribution with a focus on strengths, social change, and the kind of hope that supports survivors in the midst of violence to keep striving toward a more peaceful, nurturing future across generations.
Ruth C. Neustifter, PhD, RMFT, is an assistant professor of Couple & Family Therapy at the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada), co-chair
of the Guelph Sexuality Conference (www.GuelphSexualityConference.ca), and co-host of Sexually Charged Radio. Neustifter is an AAMFT Clinical Fellow and Approved Supervisor.
References
American Psychological Association. (2017). The road to resilience. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/road-resilience.aspx.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2017). Trauma. Retrieved from https:// www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trauma.
Neustifter, R. (2009). Survivors of intimate partner violence
in non-violent romantic relationships (Doctoral dissertation, University of Georgia. Available at http://athenaeum.libs.uga.edu/ handle/10724/11356).
Neustifter, R., & Powell, L. (2015). Intimate partner violence survivors: Exploring relational resilience to long-term psychosocial consequences of abuse by previous partners. Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 26(4), 269-285.
Neustifter, R., Rhijn, T., & Pitman, R. (2015). Intimate partner violence and social relational theory: Examining the influence of children and important others on mothers’ transition out of violent relationships. Children & Society, 29(6), 651-661.
Tambling, R. B., Neustifter, R., Muska, C., Reckert, A., & Rua, S. (2012). Pleasure-centered educational program: A comprehensive approach to pleasure-oriented sexuality education in domestic violence shelters. International Journal of Sexual Health, 24(4), 267-289.
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