Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Social workers by definition are practice-based professionals that promote social change and empowerment of people. When it comes to working with vulnerable people, or specifically children who have experienced trauma, social workers curriculum has adapted over the years. Historically social work education was very specific and didn’t take into account the many overarching themes that occur no matter what type of trauma has happened. The curriculum that social workers were educated to approach was primarily child abuse. Over time social workers were then educated on approaching any type of situation from natural disasters to abuse or neglect. When it comes to children, social workers often help a child by working through the child’s trauma or altogether removing the child from a bad environment into a new safe environment. The thing about trauma is that there are no specific symptoms and everyone’s experiences are different. Today trauma can be defined as an emotional response to a disturbing or deeply distressing experience. However, our skills, attitudes, beliefs and prior experiences, as well as our support system all affect how we experience situations. There are so many factors that come into play with how we react to situations; because of this, what may be considered trauma to one person may not be to another. With children, …show more content…
It is unique for incorporating a “trauma narrative”. Over the therapy sessions, children are asked to describe more and more details about their trauma experience. The reasoning behind the trauma narrative is facing up to what you are afraid of to overcome it. According to NTCSN, many clinicians believe that this approach is actually more traumatizing for the children. However, it is the most commonly used therapy and has the most research behind