Medical Trauma as a Component of Understanding Complex Trauma

This session is available for 1.50 APA and ASWB credits.

Abstract
Illness and injury are constant possibilities in our lives. This has become increasingly obvious in recent years as our world continues to adjust to life post-pandemic. While medical issues are commonplace, the psychological impacts of medical trauma are less understood and even less often discussed as a significant contributor to complex trauma. However, understanding the impact of medical trauma is vital to effectively assessing trauma and treating symptoms of traumatic stress.

Medical trauma is defined widely as the psychological and physiological reactions to injury, diagnosis, illness, and/or treatment of a medical condition. It is experienced by the individual experiencing the medical issue(s) and by the family system in which the individual operates. This is consistent with the current DSM Criterion A for PTSD. As with any other traumatic event, all who are involved or connected have their own experience with their own traumatic imprints. Sometimes these events are understood to be traumatic, but very often, the traumatic nature of a medical crisis is not obvious after the crisis is over and a patient is healed or even cured.

This presentation will discuss the prevalence of psychological trauma in the wake of medical injury, illness, and/or treatment, including reference to the collective trauma experienced throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Impacts to the entire family system will be detailed, including the specific role that dissociation plays as both adaptive coping mechanism and symptom of distress. The presentation aims to build awareness amongst the attendees of the causes and symptoms of medical trauma as well encourage attendees to discuss the ways that race, gender, class, and other lacks of privilege signify potential risk factors for medical trauma. Through understanding the wide-ranging nature of medical trauma, clinicians can have access to a more complete picture of a client's history and therefore be more effective in applying interventions to allow their clients to heal.