ABSTRACT
Through the evolution of our understanding of trauma, treatment research has developed an approach to human suffering that has become an embodiment in and of itself, and has perpetuated key assumptions about the recovery process. While these developments in our understanding of trauma and trauma theory are valuable and integral to our understanding of the etiology of and symptoms characterizing trauma, what is the extent of their influence on our approach to treating victims of significant trauma? This chapter seeks to explore how practice narratives about trauma that are informed by the dominant, medicalized, scientific understanding of mental illness actually serve to distance the practitioner from the real, lived experience of trauma sufferers. Using case material, this chapter is aimed at dismantling assumptions about trauma—who the victims are, and how they are victimized—as well as emphasizing the client’s right to determine and define for themselves what their trauma means and how it impacts their life. Ultimately, this chapter seeks to articulate how an analysis of trauma that is ontologically and epistemologically different is necessary if we are to appreciate the significant place that trauma holds in our human history.
