Interacting with trauma survivors in contexts of continuing trauma

Abstract

Within a burgeoning literature on the survivors of catastrophic trauma, there is an increasing focus on therapists' reactions to these survivors. Within this tradition, the present paper examines the responses of a group of therapists working with survivors of South Africa's political repression and civil conflict. It highlights how, in this context, both the potential for retraumatization of survivors, as well as the potential for direct traumatization of the therapists, intensifies these reactions and complicates their resolution. The similarities and differences between this particular context and other contexts of trauma within which therapists may work are discussed.