Trauma concepts: A descriptive psychological formulation of the nature of trauma and its consequences

Wechsler, R.C. / Published 2013 / Article

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Citation: Wechsler, R.C. (2013). Trauma concepts: A descriptive psychological formulation of the nature of trauma and its consequences. In K.E. Davis, R.M. Bergner, F. Lubuguin, & W. Schwartz, (Eds.), Advances in Descriptive Psychology: Vol.10 (pp. 149-174). Ann Arbor, MI: Descriptive Psychology Press.

Abstract: In this chapter, I seek to answer four questions about psychological trauma that have not been properly conceptualized. They are: (a) What is psychological trauma? (b) Why do some people get traumatized and others do not? (c) Why do the symptoms of PTSD take the specific forms that they do? And finally, (d) What is the role of physiology in creating or perpetuating the condition? In addressing these questions, I shall be drawing upon the conceptual resources of Descriptive Psychology, among which are the conceptual device of Paradigm Case Formulations, the formulation of pathology as disability, and the concept of a person’s World and how it is related to his/her self-concept. The resulting clarifications will lay the foundation for a later elucidation and integration of approaches to therapy with PTSD victims.