Christine Blasey Ford testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 27, 2018.
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)
If the Ford-Kavanaugh saga had any positive impact, it at least clearly highlighted several lessons from traumatology and the complex consequences of traumatic events across society.
If someone has a fear of dogs, a therapist might try to reframe their beliefs to ones such as: ‘most dogs are friendly’
Erik Odiin/Unsplash
A recent study found that half of patients who had therapy to help them cope with painful memories had a relapse four years later. So, is there a way to erase unwanted memories for good?
A traumatic memory can be near impossible to shake.
Carolina Heza/Unsplash
Once associated with mind-control experiments and counter-cultural defiance, psychedelics now show great promise for mental health treatments and may prompt a re-evaluation of the scientific method.
Youth workers use a ‘window of opportunity’ to try and stop cycles of violence.
via shutterstock.com
Canada’s residential school system and the Holocaust offer clear lessons – that the harm done to migrant children will impact multiple generations of Americans.
A boy stares out of a heavily tinted bus window leaving a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, Tuesday, June 19, 2018, in McAllen, Texas.
AP Photo/Eric Gay
The traumatic separations of children and parents initiated at the border can cause permanent changes in the structure of the infants’ and children’s brains and the activity of their genes.
Names of lynching victims at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Ala.
AP/Brynn Anderson
The National Memorial for Peace and Justice helps demonstrate that the lynching of black people was not the fault of victims. But telling this history risks re-traumatizing the black community.
Traumatised children can go on to lead better lives.
Photo by Bruno Nascimento/Unsplash
An evaluation of a therapeutic foster care program has shown significant improvements in children previously thought too complex and challenging for foster care.
A young man reacts at a vigil remembering the victims of a shooting on Toronto’s popular Danforth Avenue.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Blinch
Two acts of mass violence in Toronto this year will have an impact on witnesses, caregivers and even those who watch news reports. An expert on post-traumatic stress explains.
In NSW and Victoria this week, communities were hit by bushfires. Long after such devastating fires pass, the risks to physical and mental health remain.
Grey’s Anatomy’s portrayal of trauma experiences is far more dramatic than in real life.
IMDb/Shondaland, The Mark Gordon Company, Touchstone Television (2005-2007), ABC Studios
A new study compared fictional patient experiences in Grey’s Anatomy with real trauma cases. It concluded patients who are fans of the show might have unrealistic expectations of medical care.
Compulsive spending or shopping is considered an impulse control disorder.
PA
Being the victim of trauma can trigger the onset of PTSD. But so can being violent against others – which means young people in gangs risk deep psychological scars.
Institutional betrayal can lead to real psychological and physical harm.
Aimorn1992/shutterstock.com
In the wake of the #Metoo movement, and with the goal of transforming toxic masculinity into compassionate masculinity, we must create new spaces to listen to male victims of child abuse too.
People wait to get evacuated in Sukadana village, near Mount Agung, a volcano on the highest alert level, in Bali, Indonesia.
Reuters
The “love hormone” system starts to develop in the womb and is important in helping us deal with stress.
Repression is a defensive process where the mind forgets or places events, thoughts and memories we cannot acknowledge or bear elsewhere.
Roxanne Milward/Flickr