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This assignment is going to critically evaluate the self-help provided in excerpt one based on trauma and stress. It will highlight the positive and negative advice it provides whilst suggesting why this self-help advice is either useful or why these points suggested can be harmful to people suffering from traumatic experiences. It will evaluate these points by using psychological terms which will discuss whether the advice given is effective and how these suggestions can be provided by psychological evidence if not already proven so that they can be successful for the recovery of trauma patients in the future. Examples of psychological terms will include positive psychology and how focusing on resilience may be more effective than trauma psychology (Wager, 2015, p. 149). Contrarily, it will evaluate how functional impairment may become an issue in PTSD patients when looking at creating new social contacts (Wager, 2015, p. 152).
Firstly, as the term resilience is used frequently in excerpt one, resilience can be categorized as positive psychology as resilience focuses on positive thinking (Wager, 2015, p.45). Another alternative used to target trauma sufferers is trauma psychology, however as trauma psychology targets the negative elements of traumatic experiences it may not be as effective as positive psychology (Wager, 2015, p.45). One of the points listed was practicing optimism and controlling your thoughts by switching to positive ones which are one-way excerpt one highlights positive psychology possibly being more effective. Therefore, by focusing on positive thoughts resilience can be exercised and can transform someone’s thought patterns. Nevertheless, even though positive thinking can have a positive outcome for stress and trauma patients, there needs to be more scientific evidence to ensure this can work for most of the population.
One way this can be psychologically tested for effectiveness is to carry out a pre-test and post-test study on two different groups (The Open University, 2021a). Therefore, qualitative evidence such as interviews can be held before and after the treatments of both patient groups, one practicing resilience, and the other participating in trauma psychology, this will allow room for comparisons on who recovers faster and more successfully. A comparison group can be used for the resilience group so that it can be compared to trauma psychology therapy (The Open University, 2021a). The good thing about collecting the effectiveness of practicing optimism from using qualitative interviews is that they provide plenty of detail about the participant and the interviewer can observe how they respond, whether they appear happier after the treatment or no effect afterwards. Whereas with quantitative evidence like questionnaires, it can be limited and harder to uncover the emotional state of participants.
Moreover, another effective self-help point to consider suggested in point two of excerpt one is the acknowledgment of coping resources. As it suggests that creating new coping mechanisms will create a positive impact on a person’s life, putting adaptive coping into practice when building resilience, this will not only welcome positivity, but it will distract the trauma patient from any stressful situations in present circumstances (Wager, 2015, p.149). Therefore, participating in more hobbies like music and meditation, as suggested in excerpt one, will help trauma patients cope with stressful environments and benefit them by focusing on positive commitments as a distraction mechanism during difficult situations.
In contrast, evaluating the non-effective suggestions on building resilience, excerpt one suggests four points that help build resilience. According to Rolbeiki (2017) cited in The Open University (2021b), one point suggested is that creating new social contacts can build resilience. Nevertheless, according to the DSM 5 criteria (2013), cited in Wager (2015) p. 151-152, the PTSD diagnosis suggests that PTSD sufferers can develop functional impairment. This suggests that functional impairment being present may make it difficult for trauma patients to socially interact with new groups of people. The issue with excerpt one is that although meeting new contacts may help gain the confidence of trauma victims, it does not state any advice on how trauma victims can break out of that cycle, and may not be as easy as just creating a new social group.
Moving onto another non-effective suggestion from excerpt one is that it does not touch upon acute reactions. Acute reactions are when limited responses occur during a traumatic experience, due to the shock of a trauma victim preventing a reaction at that present time (The Open University, 2021c). Therefore, the issue with excerpt one is that even though it focuses on gaining resilience by using positive psychology, as everyone’s responses differ it is complicated to apply some basic simple steps so that one shoe fits all sizes. With acute responses to trauma, some traumas may be more challenging to overcome as with acute reactions, the side effects of trauma may not be noticed until a long period after the event, making it more challenging to overcome.
Looking at the suggestion excerpt one gives on taking advantage of the support, according to McElheran cited in The Open University (2021d), having a good bond with the therapist improves the recovery of trauma in patients compared to the skills used to combat trauma. This is because when trauma patient feels comfortable exposing their issues to their therapist, this allows traumatic issues to be solved quickly. Therefore, the suggestion is that seeking extra help will allow a trauma patient to form a good relationship with a suitable therapist that can lead them in the right direction of getting the appropriate help they are required. On the contrary, an improvement in making this advice in excerpt one more effective could be suggesting what type of support is available, as someone new to attending therapy may not know what support to look for.
Evaluating further into excerpt one and an issue that arises is that it suggests how anyone is capable of practicing resilience. According to the American Psychological Association (2020), cited in The Open University,2020b), they state that anyone can practice resilience. This is non-effective because many factors can influence certain therapies negatively. Some of these issues include Iatrogenic disorders where therapies may decrease the recovery of trauma instead and resilience may not be the best therapy for everyone (Wager, 2015, p. 164). Issues to consider may be disabilities or the lack of consent for patients to be involved which make it more challenging for resilience to be practiced (The Open University, 2021e).
Furthermore, in excerpt one, there is advice on how being flexible with life achievements can enhance resilience. According to Meichenbaum (2012), p. 16, flexibility with achievements and being able to accept certain circumstances can lead to strengthening resilience. As excerpt one suggests that being flexible and accepting temporary pain can bring successful recovery after trauma, it has also been suggested by Meichenbaum that these are important requirements for a speedy recovery from the aftereffects of stress and trauma. The book also suggests like excerpt one that being spiritual can help lead resilience in the right direction (Meichenbaum, 2012, p. 18). To elaborate, both suggest that being spiritual can give someone a purpose and an authority to look up to.
On the contrary to becoming spiritual, however, some may not believe in following a religion as it is not scientifically backed up by evidence. Therefore, in the sense of a distraction becoming spiritual may work in helping stress and trauma sufferers, yet as religion is not scientifically backed up, it is difficult to say whether following a higher authority like a religious God will be effective. Therefore, testing the effectiveness of the spirituality suggestion in excerpt one will be a challenge. The only thing that could be tested is whether being involved in a new religion helps the improvement of the gaining resilience as mentioned previously, by using a pre-test-post-test study to compare the results of two groups (The Open University, 2021a). One comparison group could include trauma patients where the first group can focus on strengthening resilience without spirituality using dependant variables and the other group experiment with spirituality as the independent variable. Therefore, the independent variable can be compared alongside the results of the experiment using dependent variables (Sani, et.al, 2006, pp. 10-12).
In conclusion, it seems that excerpt one suggests many effective ways in which trauma and stress patients can build resilience. Many good points to consider were the positive psychology aim and how optimism can provide positive thinking to overcome difficult obstacles, also the mention of coping recourses as it has been proven that adaptive coping accelerates recovery as mentioned in the DSM 5. Evaluating the issues with excerpt one, however, is that not everyone may benefit from the same treatment. This is down to Iatrogenic disorders and disabilities that may differ when practicing resilience. Also touching on the issues of functional impairment, some trauma patients may be not able to socialize the same way as others due to not being able to socialize the same way prior to experiencing trauma. The best way these can be tested for effectiveness is to use pre-test and post-test studies so comparisons can be applied.
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