For many boys, fathers, and grandfathers, a first step towards healing trauma can be found in the wilderness, “Where there are no deadlines, cell phones, or committee meetings. Where there is room for the soul and a quiet place to restore lost nurturance”, (Wild at Heart, Eldridge, 2011).
Glen and his father Darren are a great example of how this healing can take place. Dr. Sells uses the Wild at Heart Wound Playbook from Treating the Traumatized Child: A Step-by-Step Family Systems Approach (2017) to outline a clear treatment plan addressing the trauma experienced by Glen and his family.
Glen recently threatened his mother with a knife and was placed in a temporary respite home. His parents, Darren and Carla, separated a few months ago and since that time Glen has become increasingly aggressive with his mother and sister.
Using the Family Systems Trauma (FST) model, Dr. Sells outlines three core treatment steps therapists can use to create a trauma-informed playbook for clients and families in treatment. When therapists ask themselves and their clients the right questions, it’s easier to create a plan everyone feels comfortable and confident using.
The Family Systems Trauma model helps therapists understand which symptoms to address first and why, how to locate the unhealthy patterns causing the symptom(s) and how to uncover health patterns that will heal it, and how to select a technique to address the patterns as well as create a playbook so that everyone knows and can practice their parts.
Some therapists are uncomfortable or untrained in directive therapy and some therapists simply prefer to be non-directive and avoid giving direct advice. For some populations, a non-directive style of therapy works. However, when traumatized children and families are stuck, they need the therapist to give direct advice and typed out playbooks with role clarity to help them get unstuck in the here and now.
To see The Wild at Heart Wound Playbook and find out more about how the FST approach can help, visit familytrauma.com.
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