Tag: Barta M

Emily Oakland

Reactive Attachment Disorder: Theoretical Perspectives and Treatment Implications

Attachment allows children the secure base necessary to explore, learn and relate, and the well-being, motivation, and opportunity to do so. Attachment is important for safety, stress regulation, adaptability, and resilience. The neurobiological consequences of trauma, abuse, and emotional neglect can leave children behaviorally disordered, depressed, apathetic, slow to learn, and prone to chronic illness. Compared to securely attached children, children with attachment disorder are significantly more likely to be aggressive, disruptive, and antisocial. Reactive attachment disorder (RAD) is a condition where a child doesn’t form healthy emotional bonds with their caretakers (parental figures), often because of trauma, emotional neglect, or abuse at an early age. Children with RAD have trouble managing their emotions. Children with reactive attachment disorder are believed to have the capacity to form attachments, but this ability has been hindered by their early developmental experiences. There’s no standard treatment for reactive attachment disorder, but it should involve both the child and parents or primary caregivers.

CMHC 699, Capstone

Mindi Barta

Siefke 100

2 – 3 PM

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Glen Ruderman

Routes to Psychotherapy Integration: From Rapprochement to Unification

As the most popular orientation utilized by mental health professionals, integration represents the mainstream of contemporary psychotherapy. This presentation details various pathways to psychotherapy integration and the similarities and differences that exist among distinct integrative and eclectic approaches. Approaches considered include: common factors, technical eclecticism, theoretical integration, assimilative integration, and unification. Special consideration will be placed on unification as a “fifth route” to psychotherapy integration.

CMHC 699, Capstone

Mindi Barta

Siefke 100

3 – 4 PM

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Taylor C. Van Rysselberghe

The Trauma Trident: Biopsychosocial-spiritual Framework for Identifying Impacts of Trauma

Trauma is quickly becoming recognized as a major component in the lives of nearly all who are suffer from mental health issues or disorders. The Trauma Trident is a conceptual framework for defining and identifying trauma through the use of the biopsychosocial model and the added component of spirituality. Furthermore, trauma is highlighted as a type of wounding that occurs from the power of harmful memories consisting of lost autonomy, lies we hear from others, and lies we end up telling ourselves. The Trauma Trident aims to expand upon current means of identifying trauma and promote mental wellness and clarity through the attainment of insight concerning symptoms which have significantly impacted important areas of an individual’s life.

CMHC 699, Capstone

Mindi Barta

Siefke 100

10 – 11 AM

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Devon Halleman

Soul Wounds: The Impact of Moral Injury in First Responders and Implications for Counseling

First responders (e.g., law enforcement, firefighters, paramedics, and emergency dispatchers) operate in conditions where responsibility to act, empathy, and moral influence converge with human tragedy. More than 80% of first responders have endorsed experiencing traumatic events. First responders are disproportionately subjected to events and experiences that may conflict with their deeply rooted moral values. These events increase their risk of facing stress-related issues outside of those experiences, as outlined in established fear-based stress disorders. As such, first responders are at an increased risk of depression, substance abuse, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicide. This paper addresses the complex diagnostic distinctions between PTSD and moral injury (MI). An event leading to posttraumatic stress disorder does not necessarily mean a moral injury has occurred; however, moral injury is always traumatic. MI has been defined as “a response to trauma when a person or group’s core moral foundations cannot identify, justify, process, and integrate the trauma experience into a meaningful system that sustains relationships and human flourishing.” Commonly accepted characteristics of MI include shame, guilt, spiritual or existential crisis, and loss of trust in oneself or others. When MI goes untreated, secondary diagnostic characteristics can include anxiety, depression, anger, reexperiencing, self-harm, and social issues. This paper discusses the importance of moral repair, personal renewal, and self-forgiveness in one’s journey of healing and restoring one’s moral identity. Culturally competent clinicians must listen attentively, devoid of judgment or individual agenda, and be proficient at recognizing and treating a moral injury.

Keywords: ​moral injury, posttraumatic stress disorder, trauma, first responder, counseling

CMHC 699 – Capstone

Mindi Barta

3:00pm – 4:00pm L203