ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the process of being curious about our clients’ experiences and behaviors and making sense of their lives in a collaborative way. From this more engaged and non-pathologizing position, we are led to a deeper understanding of the function and meaning of suicidality and many other challenges trauma clients bring to therapy. For example, we trace a suicidal crisis to its origins in their traumatic childhood and we try to see suicidality through the eyes of that child who is hurt, afraid, and alone – with no one to help make sense of or soothe the pain – and with no other option than to “want to not be here.” When we approach trauma treatment in this manner, the client’s symptoms, self-destructive behaviors, relationship problems as well as their corresponding coping strategies take on a different meaning. The client is no longer a sick person being treated by a mental health professional but one of two people in the room working together to connect the dots as a way of building a more healthy and happy life.
