Figley, C. R. (2005). Trauma and its Wake: Transforming Stumbling Blocks into Stepping Stones.
Invited keynote address at the Personal Workshop at the SOAR Spa, Westin Grand Bohemian,
Orlando FL , September 16.
Outline of PowerPoint Presentation:
Trauma
and its Wake: Transforming Stumbling Blocks into Stepping Stones
By
Charles R. Figley, Ph.D.
Florida State University Traumatology Institute and President of the Green Cross
(www.greencros.org)
A Personal Workshop at the SOAR Spa
At the Westin Grand Bohemian, Orlando FL September 16-18, 2005
A round of applause!!
Kellie Greene, Founder/Director SOAR
69 East Pine Street
Orlando , FL 32801
T-407-836-9692
F-407-836-9693
www.soar99.org
soar99@att.net
Goals
the step by step orientation to understanding or mapping,
the immediate and long-term effects sexual and other traumatic assaults
Objectives
1. Better understand why sexual assault survivors and their supporters think,
act, and react the way they do.
2. Better appreciate the work of reclaiming our lives through both
controlling traumatic stress reactions and having a positive mind set
Objectives
3. Better understanding PTSD and how it emerges and is treated.
4. Better able to know how sexual assault-related PTSD and stress reactions affect me.
Objectives
5. Better able to acknowledge and honor losses caused by the sexual assault.
6. Better able to deal with "relapse" of PTSD symptoms without being discouraged
Objectives
7. Aware of how often PTSD affects sexual assault survivors
8.Appreciate the path of healing is not straight or flat.
Objectives
9. Better able to know what it takes to live in the present while being aware of the past.
10. Better able to creating new family/support network when you don't feel very trusting.
11. Better able to tell others and not feel it was your fault
The
Stumbling Blocks: Physical Injuries
According to the National Women's Study's Principal Investigator, Dean G. Kilpatrick
(University of South Carolina Medical School): Among sexual assault survivors
Sixty-one percent are concerned about getting pregnant.
Forty-three percent are concerned about contracting sexually transmitted diseases.
Forty percent are concerned about contracting HIV/AIDS
The
Stumbling Blocks: Spiritual Injuries
Sixty-three percent lost of confidence in a spiritual connection
Seventy-two percent who attended church stopped or went far less frequently
Many Catholics note confusion about confession when the “sin” was not their fault.
The Stumbling Blocks: Social Injuries
Among of all sexual assault survivors in the study:
Sixty-nine percent say they worry about being blamed.
Seventy-one percent say they are concerned about relatives finding out about the rape.
Sixty-eight percent say they are concerned about people outside her family knowing she had been sexually assaulted.
Sixty percent are concerned about the possibility that their name will be published in the newspaper.
The Stumbling Blocks: Mental Injuries
Found significant and profound mental injuries.
Following are comparisons between those exposed to sexual assault compared to those exposed to assault other than sexual assault.
Double whammy effect: Assaulted plus sexual assault
National Women's Study Charts
Roadmap to Stepping Stones
Stepping Stones: Self
1. Answering the five victim questions toward becoming a true survivor
What happened to me?
Why did it happen to ME?
Why did I RESPOND as I did?
Why have I been OBSESSED with it since then?
What if something like this happens AGAIN?
Stepping Stones: Self
2. Grieving the losses and learning the lessons.
3. Desensitization (unlearning traumatic stress reactions) by yourself or with the help of others.
4. Developing a healing theory of your recovery
Reaching out to others as stepping stones
Stepping Stones: Supporters
Overcoming the fear of others' responses
Sharing your healing theory and lessons learned
Recognizing their compassion stress
Stepping Stones: Helpers
Fellow survivors are helpers who help raise consciousness and provide a context for surviving and thriving
Counselors and therapists are paid consultants who work for you in assisting you in reaching your goals (noted earlier)
Be cautious of those who suffer from compassion fatigue
Helpers' Stumbling Blocks
Stepping Stones: SORE SPA
The joy of celebrating life, resilience, and SUPPORTING fellow survivors
a commitment to ending sexual assault
Learning how to find together the stepping stones to learning and thriving!
Conclusions
The difference between a victim
When faced with a stressful and challenging stumbling block
a victims says: I can't do it because the trauma hurt me!
A survivor says: I CAN do it because the trauma taught me I can survive anything.