Journal Club Follow-up - Psychological trauma and substance abuse

This month's journal club was focusing on the article:

Dass-Brailsford, P. & Myrick, A.C. (2010). Psychological Trauma and Substance Abuse: The Need for an Integrated Approach. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 11(4), pp. 202-213.

 

You can find a copy of the abstract here

 

Some of the key points discussed in the club were:

•  The article was a validation of the clinicians experience in working with clients – particularly for Indigenous clients and in rural settings. One participant highlighted that the article was a validation of what they were seeing in their day to day practices, but that they weren’t sure that this was something else other clinicians were seeing or that there was research available around the interplay of trauma and substance use                          


• There was symmetry between the arguments made in the article for integrated treatment and the cultural and core business promoted within the organisation.


• The discussion participants also raised the idea of trans-generational trauma as well as childhood trauma as linked to substance use


• Overall the ideas presented in the article were aligned with the experiences of the clinicians and that moving towards trauma-informed practices in the organisation would be beneficial

You may be interested in the following chapter for more information on the effects of transgenerational trauma on Indigenous Communities:

Atkinson, J.; Nelson, J. and Atkinson, C. (2010) Chapt 10 "Trauma, transgerational transfer and the effects on community wellbeing." in Working together: Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principles and Practice. pp135-145

Full text chapter

Full text of complete work



The following toolkit is a Canadian resource so many of the statistics aren't of relevance, but the majority is applicable to anyone wanting to engage in Trauma-informed care.

Klinic Community Health Centre (2008) Trauma-informed: The Trauma-Informed toolkit: a resource for service organizations and providers to deliver services that are trauma informed.

Full text of the complete work


Thanks to Sarah for another great Journal Club topic!

If you want any further info contact the Resource Centre library@drugarm.com.au