The relationships between parents and children as well as adults within family are usually supposed to be normal in all aspects. It came out to be that before 1970s the American society has no idea of rape, violence, and incest happening often in American families. Owing to Judith Lewis Herman’s book Trauma and Recovery the hidden dangers of family life are under consideration today. The question is that a victim is helpless until the secret is out.
There is a particular conflict in evidence between a stage of rejection and proclamation of horrible events in a person’s life. Thereupon, Herman provides a three-stage model for recovery in order to make the emotional shock diminished to a degree. In such a balanced treatment provided by Professor Herman one can find an overall all-pervading outlook on the situations of such a kind.
The main speculation relies on the tripartite unity of Herman’s model. It is similar to the holy number of “three” that is powerful to decrease the extent of a problem or a danger threatening a person. Moreover, the specificity of the issue is in the fact that trauma is usually referred to the past. All in all, the three constituent parts of the model are as such:
- Establishing safety
- Reconstructing memories
- Restoring the connection between the victim and community (Herman, 2001, p. 156).
The first stage relates toward management of reliable conditions in order to provide slightest steps within the process of recovery. It means that, first of all, a victim of cruel intentions on the part of own relatives should be secured in terms of well-being of body and environment. In other words, during this period of rehabilitation a patient should have an assurance of personal self-security in order to plan further actions toward a new life full of recovery (Herman, 2001).
This is a preliminary action to step forward on the pathway of changes. An optimal regime in eating and sleeping should be determined and taken as a given. Furthermore, post-traumatic state of body and mind should get through sufficient management (Herman, 2001). It is needful to be remarked that the health perspectives at the initial stage are at stake. It is a sticking point to recognize the seriousness of the problem for physicians, psychoanalysts, and therapists. However, more attention is drawn to the well-being of a patient.
The environmental aspects of the first stage in aforementioned recovery model presuppose the plan of security actions. It pertains to the overall security provided in order to take care about a patient’s safe living. In other words, the safety of patient’s environment is related to the guarantee of a “safe living situation, financial security, mobility, and a plan for self-protection that encompasses the full range of the patient’s daily life” (Herman, 2001, p. 156). The main recommendation, as might be seen, is to provide an investigation of traumatic reactions after it is obvious that a victim feels himself/herself in safety.
The second stage should be transmitted solely after the contact between a therapist and a victim has been arranged. It is a procedure of reconstructing memories through the natural state of mourning and sorrow which a victim once managed to get through (Herman, 2001). It is no surprise, hereby, that the main point is in drawing parallels between the event and memories. After such a procedure it is needful to determine cognitive reaction of a victim on what has happened.
These three features for analysis (horrible event, memories, and cognition) should be taken into consideration to create a new meaning of life (Herman, 2001). Thus, it is a core of the investigation and treatment provided for a victim insofar. Herman gives concrete grounds for implementing logical as well as psychological prospects to make the process of recovery not a spontaneous phenomenon, but a feature of a consistent counseling.
Finally, the third stage is referred to the development of future connections with recovery as a holistic process turning everything around an abused person. It is revealed in self-esteem, finding out meaning for life, and development of relationships with people around (Herman, 2001). Thus, this stage is a finishing stroke so as to maintain the feeling of person’s equilibrium within the society. It corresponds directly to self-actualization and self-possession in the society.
A former victim is proposed to break the ice and step forward, as there is no harm possible at the moment. Such recognition of the reality around helps individuals start with a new perception of life and people. This is why, a therapist is better to prove the reliability of self-possession as the paramount objective on the final stage (Herman, 2001).
To sum up, the three-stage model by Judith L. Herman helps in constructing therapeutic methodology while helping people (victims) get through the affection of psychological trauma. In this respect safety of body and environment, reconstruction of memories, and making connection with further implications in life serve as the entire constituents to apply an efficient treatment.
Reference
Herman, J. L. (2001). Trauma and Recovery: From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror. New York, NY: Rivers Oram Press.