Harvey Trauma Theory

Harvey’s (1996) Ecological View of trauma helped me gaining insight to trauma treatment and adding a trauma-informed approach to addiction treatment. Harvey suggested taking into consideration of person, event, and environmental factors when understanding trauma. Each client varies in personality, coping abilities, race, cultural background, cognitive functioning, etc.; Each traumatic event might be different in types, duration, severity, the degree of violence, the extend of humiliation, etc.; Environmentally, victims’ support system, community, culture, political environment, and advocacy resources differs from one to another. These factors directly influence what questions are asked and what interventions are used in therapy. In residential …show more content…
Clients had been spending enough time thinking about the trauma and feeling sad about it; Clients became ready to use the skills to real life. Trauma leads victim to develop a maladaptive relationship with others and the world and a distorted sense of self (Herman, 1992a), which is also seen in substance use clients. Herman (1992b) talked about the idea of owning oneself and experiencing a combination of ideal and actual self. I found this idea very similar to client-centered approach of achieving congruence of who one is and who one wants to be; and this congruence could not be achieved unless client had completed stage one and two. Gaining connection with others and the community is another important aspect in last stage of trauma recover, because of the isolation trauma had created. Trust and intimacy are part of the focus during the third stage as well, which are not often talked about in substance abuse treatment. I often see in the addiction population that clients lost the connections they had before, the trust for the society and the system, and the confidence in building intimate relationships. Harris and Fallot (2001) recommended addiction treatment programs to stress on the bond residents have with each other as well as the relationships outside the treatment program. I believe that recovery through this stage also requires understanding the environment elements in Harvey’s ecological mode. The attitude among community members and the stigma regarding trauma and addiction might post threat to one’s recovery, as the individual still feel unsafe, judged, alone, and unable to restore the trust for others, to gain a sense of belonging, or wholesome and healthy sense of