Trauma-Informed Care Flashcards

Secondary traumatic stress (STS) in addiction counselors is best described as:

Answer: Trauma-like symptoms resulting from empathic engagement with traumatized clients

STS develops when counselors experience trauma-like symptoms (intrusion, avoidance, hyperarousal) through indirect exposure to client trauma via empathic engagement, distinct from burnout or personal trauma activation.

Which evidence-based treatment was specifically designed to address trauma and substance use disorders concurrently, emphasizing coping skills and safety over trauma processing?

Answer: Seeking Safety

Seeking Safety is a present-focused, manualized treatment developed by Lisa Najavits that simultaneously targets trauma and substance use, prioritizing safety and coping without requiring detailed trauma narration.

The concept of 'trauma bonding' in counseling refers to:

Answer: Strong emotional attachments to an abuser formed through cycles of abuse and intermittent reinforcement

Trauma bonding describes the paradoxical strong emotional attachment to an abuser that develops through cycles of intermittent reinforcement, threat, and relief — also called Stockholm Syndrome in captivity contexts.

According to Polyvagal Theory, the 'freeze' or shutdown trauma response is associated with which component of the autonomic nervous system?

Answer: The dorsal vagal complex unmyelinated pathway

Polyvagal Theory (Porges) identifies the ancient, unmyelinated dorsal vagal complex as responsible for immobilization and shutdown responses when fight or flight is not viable and survival is threatened.

In trauma-informed addiction treatment, client empowerment is best supported by:

Answer: Providing psychoeducation about trauma responses and offering meaningful choices

Empowerment in trauma-informed care involves restoring agency through psychoeducation about trauma responses and offering genuine choices throughout treatment, counteracting the powerlessness of traumatic experiences.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is theorized to facilitate trauma treatment primarily by:

Answer: Using bilateral stimulation to facilitate adaptive reprocessing of dysfunctionally stored memories

EMDR uses bilateral stimulation (eye movements, tapping, or auditory tones) to facilitate reprocessing of traumatic memories stored in a dysfunctional, state-dependent form, integrating them into adaptive memory networks.

Cultural humility in trauma-informed practice primarily requires addiction counselors to:

Answer: Recognize the limits of their cultural knowledge and remain curious about clients' cultural contexts

Cultural humility involves ongoing self-reflection about one's biases, acknowledging the limits of cultural knowledge, and remaining open and curious about how each client's culture shapes their experience of trauma.