NRSG210: Key Intervention Elements in Trauma-Informed Mental Health

This essay provides an overview of trauma-informed care within mental health nursing, defining trauma-informed practice as a framework that recognizes, understands, and responds to the impacts of trauma. It highlights common symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, including re-experiencing trauma, increased risks of substance dependence, and other mental health effects. The essay discusses various trauma-specific interventions such as ATRIUM, Essence of Being Real, the Sanctuary model, Seeking Safety, TAMAR, and TARGET, detailing their approaches and applications. It concludes by emphasizing the role of behavioral health counselors and mental health professionals in utilizing therapeutic and educational models to address trauma-related complaints and symptoms, also mentioning other interventions like couple and family therapy, mindfulness, and pharmacological therapy. Desklib offers a variety of solved assignments and study resources for students.

Trauma-informed
care
NAME OF THE STUDENT
NAME OF THE UNIVERSITY

Trauma informed care
 Trauma informed practice can be defined as a treatment
framework, which comprises of recognising, understanding,
and responding to the impacts of different kinds of trauma.
 Trauma is an incident or series of events and/or
circumstances that are experienced as emotionally and
physically life threatening or emotional harmful (Slade,
2009).
 The deficits in ‘information-processing’ is allied with
unsettled trauma that interrupts the events related to
integrated neural processing.

Symptoms
 Common symptoms of post-traumatic stress
disorder comprise of re-experiencing episodes of
trauma in the form of flashbacks and nightmares
(Nizette, McAllister & Marks, 2012).
 Risks of alcohol dependence and drug misuse
also increases with trauma.
 Other effects are manifested in the form of
schizophrenia, affective disorder and borderline
personality disorder.

Trauma-specific interventions
 Essence of being real
 Risking connection (Wilson, Fauci & Goodman, 2015)
 Addiction and Trauma Recovery Integration Model (ATRIUM)
 Sanctuary model
 Trauma Recovery and Empowerment Model (TREM and M-
TREM)
 Seeking safety
 Trauma Affect Regulation Guide for Education and Therapy
(TARGET)
 Trauma, Addiction, Mental Health and Recovery (TAMAR)

ATRIUM and Essence of Being Real
 ATRIUM encompasses a 12-session recovery model that is designed for
different individuals, counsellors and therapists (Giordano et al., 2016).
 It brings together psychosocial education, peer support, meditation,
interpersonal skills training, community action, and spirituality.
 The Essence of Being Real is a peer-to-peer based trauma-informed
care method that addresses the trauma effects

Sanctuary model and Seeking Safety
 Sanctuary model provides help to children having
experienced damaging impacts of abuse,
interpersonal violence and trauma.
 It is put to action for the residential mental health
settings that involve domestic violence, juvenile
justice, substance abuse affected individuals.
 The therapy of Seeking Safety is specifically
designed for substance abuse and post-traumatic
stress disorder (Marsh et al., 2016).

TAMAR and TARGET
 TAMAR was initially developed as a component of
the first part of the SAMHSA Women, Co-Occurring
Disorders and Violence Study (Mendelson et al.,
2015).
 The approach is conducted over a period of 10
weeks that combines therapies with psycho-
educational interventions.
 TARGET is also used by mental health professionals
and organisation that has a wide range of
experience in providing trauma care.

Conclusion
 Other interventions are related to couple and family therapy,
mindfulness based approaches, and pharmacological therapy.
 Behavioural health counsellors and mental health professionals have
the role of serving clients who have experienced different forms of
trauma.
 The care approaches usually combine therapeutic and educational
models for targeting the presenting complaints and symptoms.

References
Giordano, A. L., Prosek, E. A., Stamman, J., Callahan, M. M., Loseu, S., Bevly, C. M., ... & Chadwell, K. (2016).
Addressing trauma in substance abuse treatment. Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education, 60(2),
55.
Marsh, T. N., Cote-Meek, S., Young, N. L., Najavits, L. M., & Toulouse, P. (2016). Indigenous healing and seeking
safety: A blended implementation project for intergenerational trauma and substance use disorders. The
International Indigenous Policy Journal, 7(2), 3.
Mendelson, T., Tandon, S. D., O'Brennan, L., Leaf, P. J., & Ialongo, N. S. (2015). Brief report: Moving prevention
into schools: The impact of a trauma-informed school-based intervention. Journal of
adolescence, 43, 142- 147.
Nizette, D., McAllister, M., & Marks, P. (2012). Stories in mental health: reflection, inquiry, action. Elsevier
Australia.
Slade, M. (2009). Personal recovery and mental illness: A guide for mental health professionals. Cambridge
University Press.
Wilson, J. M., Fauci, J. E., & Goodman, L. A. (2015). Bringing trauma-informed practice to domestic violence
programs: A qualitative analysis of current approaches. American journal of orthopsychiatry, 85(6),
586.
Wolff, N., Huening, J., Shi, J., Frueh, B. C., Hoover, D. R., & McHugo, G. (2015). Implementation and effectiveness
of I ntegrated trauma and addiction treatment for incarcerated men. Journal of anxiety disorders, 30,
66-80.