[Support psychotherapy in traumatic situations].

Abstract

It seems that a certain consensus exists to speak about a traumatic situation as an experience which is made up of a threat on the physical or psychological integrity of a person and against which one responds with fear, desperation and intensive horror. Different psychological phenomena are involved with the manner through which a human being confronts his/her past. In particular, the response to traumatic situations, mourning, and blame share their characteristic of being an irreversible living reality related to facts, loss or past impacts and it is necessary to integrate these in one's life in order to advance; these comprise a triangle frequently coexisting and interconnected. Aid for these three situations has, therefore, as common elements, two premises: an active task is required by the person who suffers this situation; this person must, in some form, desire to move ahead. One can not toil in mourning, in a traumatic experience, or in a life of blame if these have a positive symbolic value for this person; for example, mourning as a manner not to treason the dead person by forgetting that person, the reliving a trauma as an attempt to provide some sense to the actions which occurred, or blame as a desire to not forget an error or as a final punishment of this active task; the final objective of this active task is not usually to forget but to integrate in order to live. If a person does not perceive this clearly, this person may not become actively involved in the task to overcome a traumatic situation and to move ahead, nor will that person accept that a person who tries to help questions this person's realities or experiences.