Kneeling in the forest : therapist negotiations with hope and despair
Date
2009-11-17T22:58:56Z
Authors
Jenmorri, Katrina
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Abstract
Themes of hope and despair are central in the care of child and youth survivors of abuse trauma. Acts of abuse can disrupt a person's hope while shaking beliefs about purpose and meaning. Part of a trauma therapist's role is to implicitly offer one's own hopeful faith in possibility to clients, especially in moments of client despair. However, trauma therapy offers a challenge to therapists, prompting us to question our own meaning frameworks. A central aspect of this challenge involves negotiating hope and despair.
Through my research I consider issues of hope and despair in practice for therapists supporting survivors of trauma, and ponder the role of narratives beliefs and ways of being - in cultivating sustainable practice. In this study I explore the central question: `how can therapists negotiate hope and despair in a way which fosters resilience and sustainable practice?'
This thesis interest was born from personal experience as a junior therapist struggling with hope and despair. I researched the subject through creative self-reflection followed by interview conversations with 8 more-senior therapists working with trauma survivors. Interpretation of the conversations generated the following. The participants' negotiations involve (a) re-imagining hope and despair through process and paradox, from a stance of possibility and uncertainty, and (b) re-imagining health as non-attachment, non-aversion, and engagement. In addition, the conversations with participants suggest/s that practitioners can maintain an engaged non-attachment through narratives for practice which (a) distinguish between suffering and pain (b) describe and encourage innate human resilience, (c) affirm the power of the relationship as a site of re-connection (d) reflect a grounded view of change processes, and (e) promote playfulness in the process. Finally, participants develop resilience through processes of congruence - narrating their lives through (a) practicing reflective engagement with challenge and (b) infusing their practice with this learning. This process forges a connected, transformative story of (c) client and therapist as two travelers and (d) life challenges as useful teachers. In short, participants negotiate narratives which offer them a meaningful response to the challenges of therapy; these narratives reflect a desire to be of deep service for others from a position of personal aliveness and a vision of enhanced community health. Following the explication of the themes detailed above, further implications and recommendations for fostering practitioner and community resilience are provided.
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Keywords
child abuse, treatment, psychic trauma