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An ecological view of psychological trauma and trauma recovery
Author(s) -
Harvey Mary R.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1002/jts.2490090103
Subject(s) - relevance (law) , intervention (counseling) , psychology , psychological intervention , context (archaeology) , psychological trauma , social environment , social psychology , psychotherapist , clinical psychology , ecology , psychiatry , sociology , political science , paleontology , law , biology , social science
This paper presents an ecological view of psychological trauma and trauma recovery. Individual differences in posttraumatic response and recovery are the result of complex interactions among person, event, and environmental factors. These interactions define the interrelationship of individual and community and together may foster or impede individual recovery. The ecological model proposes a multidimensional definition of trauma recovery and suggests that the efficacy of trauma‐focused interventions depends on the degree to which they enhance the person‐community relationship and achieve “ecological fit” within individually varied recovery contexts. In attending to the social, cultural and political context of victimization and acknowledging that survivors of traumatic experiences may recover without benefit of clinical intervention, the model highlights the phenomenon of resiliency, and the relevance of community intervention efforts.