The Psychology of Trauma
9 a.m. – 4 p.m. • 6.0 C.E. Hours

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This is an introductory course for professionals with little or no background or training in trauma and/or who do not see very many patients/clients with posttraumatic disorders. The course addresses the broad range of phenomena that fall under the rubric of “trauma,” exposing attendees both to the major controversies that have developed around definitions of trauma and to the practical controversies that have emerged around proper treatment of trauma and its sequelae. We will consider types of trauma that range from childhood abuse through here-and-now traumatic experiences such as auto accidents, rape, muggings, terrorist attacks, and so forth. The morning section of the course considers the emerging data on “resilience” (a construct that seeks to account for individual variations in response to traumatic events – do some people function “better” than others after trauma?) and on attachment theory (an area of research that speaks quite directly to issues of resilience). Assessment will also be covered in the morning session. The afternoon session focuses on treatment approaches, ranging from exposure techniques (with a videotaped presentation of one approach to exposure treatment) to cognitive-behavioral and depth psychotherapies, to the “power therapies” like “EMDR,” with information about the relative efficacy of these approaches.

TOPICS

-The nature of trauma
-DSM-IV approaches
-Special considerations for trauma symptoms in children
-Resilience and the response continuum
-The contribution of attachment research
-PTSD and dissociation
-Assessment and risk management problems
-Exposure techniques
-Cognitive-behavioral approaches
-Psychodynamically-informed approaches
-Hypnotic approaches
-Group treatments (including Critical Incident Stress Debriefing)
-Power therapies (e.g., EMDR, TFT, EFT, etc.)

GOALS

At the conclusion of this program you should be better able to:

1. Assess at least four resilience factors in traumatized individuals.
2. Implement three approaches to assessment of posttraumatic disorders.
3. Understand three patient- specific and symptom-specific approaches to trauma treatment.

SPEAKER PROFILE

A. Steven Frankel, Ph.D., J.D., ABPP is a psychologist and an Attorney at Law. He is a Diplomate in both Clinical Psychology and Forensic Psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology. He earned his Ph.D. at Indiana University, and interned at the Psychiatric Institute of Columbia University. He then joined the full-time faculty of the University of Southern California (USC), where he served for 11 years, including five years as the Chair of Clinical Psychology (Director of Clinical Training). Although he is no longer full-time, he remains a Clinical Professor of Psychology at USC.
After leaving full-time university service, Dr. Frankel entered clinical practice, with both in- and outpatient responsibilities. Beginning in 1980, his psychology practice focused increasingly on the diagnosis and treatment of the dissociative disorders. He began consulting relationships with trauma treatment programs of private psychiatric hospitals in 1990. In 1993, he joined with Walter and Linda Young in the opening of a unit for the treatment of traumatic and dissociative disorders at Del Amo Hospital in Torrance, and remained a consultant to the program until July of 2000. An ISSD member since 1990 and Fellow since 1998, he was elected President of the ISSD for 2001-02. He began the practice of law upon graduation from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, where he taught as an Adjunct Professor of Law. His legal practice is in health and administrative law. He represents healthcare professionals in their dealings with agencies like licensing boards and Medicare, as well as with their miscellaneous worries. He has always been committed to teaching, and has published over 50 articles and book chapters. He received the USC Award for Teaching Excellence early in his academic career. He was similarly honored by his state professional society some years later. He has continued to serve his teaching muse ever since. He has spoken at local, national and international conferences on trauma and dissociation and his full-day continuing education curriculum in law and ethics for mental health professionals (over 50 workshops/year) has earned him his latest Outstanding Teacher Award. An Adjunct Professor of Law at Golden Gate University School of Law, he has taught courses on healthcare policy, mental disorders and the law and regulation of healthcare practice.