ABSTRACT
The present chapter delineates the authors’ conceptualization of how catastrophic events are processed at an individual level. The model presented emphasizes individual differences in psychological outcome as a function of the nature of the person’s experience. Psychological processing of the event is seen to interact with and be influenced by both long-standing characteristics of the individual, and by characteristics of the recovery environment. Case examples from a number of catastrophic events are presented which illustrate the similarities and differences across events in the manifestations of PTSD, and which focus on the variables in the model as they are illustrated in the specific cases.
