Medical Trauma

Question 1

What is medical trauma?

Answer 1

Trauma that develops from contact with the medical setting, shaped by the interaction of the patient, staff, environment, and diagnostic/ procedural experiences.

Question 2

How does medical trauma (as described by the “Enduring Somatic Threat” model) differ from traditional trauma in terms of threat source?

Answer 2

Traditional = external threat (e.g., motor vehicle accident; ); Medical = internal threat (e.g., heart attack)

Question 3

How do medical and traditional trauma differ in timeline? Orientation? What role does avoidance play in each?

Answer 3

Traditional = discrete/ one time event; past-focused (e.g., motor vehicle accident already happened); avoidance is possible (e.g., not driving in a particular intersection)

Medical = chronic/ ongoing; future-focused (e.g., “will I have another heart attack?”); avoidance is difficult since care is necessary (e.g., recurrent chemotherapy treatments)

Question 4

What does the ecological model of medical trauma emphasize?

Answer 4

The bidirectional influence of patient, diagnosis/procedures, staff, and environment

Question 5

How do staff and the medical setting (i.e., environment) impact trauma responses? Provide examples of enviornmental factors that amplify loss of control (5) (PSRDC)

Answer 5

They can soothe or worsen distress and can amplify feelings of losing control; for staff, this has to do with their empathy and communciation; for the enviornment, this has to do with multiple factors (e.g., privacy – gowns; sensory – lack of natural light; routine disruption – frequent awakening; physical discomfort – uncontrolled pain; communication barriers – hearing/ visual challenges)

Question 6

Why is loss of control central to medical trauma?

Answer 6

Patients lose autonomy through invasive procedures, dependence on staff, environmental restrictions; this leads to feelings of helplessness, anger, and worsened PTSD

Question 7

What assumption underlies Trauma Informed Care?

Answer 7

Anyone may have a trauma history, so care should reduce risk of re-traumatization

Question 8

What are 6 practical TIC strategies in medical settings? (C-BOSG)

Answer 8

Clear step-by-step communication with consent, frequent check-ins, allowing breaks, minimizing overstimulation, increasing comfort/ safety, and grounding techniques (breathing, sensory focus)

Question 9

Which family members are at risk of vicarious traumatization in medical settings?

Answer 9

Parents (especially mothers, younger parents, and those with prior trauma), families witnessing the event, and siblings of sick children.

Question 10

Which providers are at risk of vicarious traumatization, and what are the risks?

Answer 10

Medical staff exposed to codes, deaths, repeated stress. May lead to avoidance, hyperarousal, and impaired decision-making

Question 11

What protects providers from vicarious traumatization?

Answer 11

Teamwork, emotional intelligence, healthy coping strategies (e.g., can’t save everyone; instead, try to ensure a “good” death)

Question 12

What is Posttraumatic Growth (PTG)? Though what process does it develop?

Answer 12

Positive psychological change that emerges from struggling with trauma, often after worldview disruption; Deliberate Rumination (i.e., reflective meaning-making)

Question 13

What are the features of PTG?

Answer 13

Reappraisal of life priorities, deeper empathy for others, new meaning/ purpose in life, new awareness of body (which lead to healthier behaviors