Police officers routinely face critical incidents such as violent offenders, motor vehicle fatalities, and mistreated children (Cross & Ashley, 2004; Karlsson & Christianson, 2003). Police are tasked with keeping the peace and helping traumatized victims. Over time, the effort to alleviate the victims’ suffering may come with a cost. Charles Figley (1995) coined the term “compassion fatigue” (pp. 9) to describe this “cost of caring for those who suffer.” Compassion fatigue (CF) has multiple negative effects on caregiving professionals’ wellbeing and occupational performance.

Background
Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) typically report a poorer treatment response than those who have not served in the Armed Forces. A possible explanation is that veterans often present with complex symptoms of PTSD. ICD-11 PTSD and complex PTSD (CPTSD) have not previously been explored in a military sample.

Background

Survivors of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) captivity are at high risk of developing mental disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Aims

This study looks at the correlation between sexual abuse, shame, somatoform or bodily distress disorders, and dissociative seizures (psychogenic non-epileptic seizures).

Method

Child soldiers have been heavily involved in contemporary African warfare. Since the 1990s, the ‘child soldier crisis’ has become a major humanitarian and human rights project. The figure of the child soldier has often been taken as evidence of the ‘barbarism’, dehumanization and trauma generated by modern warfare, but such images can obscure the complex reality of children’s experiences of being part of armed groups during conflict.

Background: Despite the established efficacy of psychological therapies for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) there has been little systematic exploration of dropout rates. Objective: To ascertain rates of dropout across different modalities of psychological therapy for PTSD and to explore potential sources of heterogeneity.

Background: The diagnosis of complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) has been suggested for inclusion in the 11th version of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), with support for its construct validity coming from studies employing Latent Class Analysis (LCA) and Latent Profile Analysis (LPA).

Objective: The current study aimed to critically evaluate the application of the techniques LCA and LPA as applied in previous studies to substantiate the construct validity of CPTSD.

Background: Psychosis is a public health concern. There is increasing evidence suggesting trauma can play a pivotal role in the development and maintenance of psychosis. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an effective treatment for trauma and could be a vital addition to the treatment of psychosis.

Objective: To explore the evidence for EMDR as a treatment for psychosis, focussing on the safety, effectiveness and acceptability of this intervention for this population.

“Ik zou behandelaren adviseren rouw altijd uit te vragen bij mensen die te maken hebben gehad met trauma en verlies”, zegt Manik Djelantik, promovenda bij Arq Nationaal Psychotrauma Centrum en de Universiteit Utrecht. Op vrijdag 6 maart verdedigt zij haar proefschrift, getiteld ‘ Traumatic grief: Connecting prolonged grief, posttraumatic stress, and depression symptoms in traumatically, and non-traumatically bereaved individuals’. In de afgelopen jaren werkte zij onder supervisie van prof. dr. Paul Boelen, prof. dr. Rolf Kleber en prof. dr. Geert Smid aan haar onderzoek.

Als hulpverlener maak je vaker dan gemiddeld een schokkende gebeurtenis mee. Nazorg is dan belangrijk. Je collega’s kunnen hierin een belangrijke rol spelen.

Ze zijn een vrijwel onzichtbare groep, de kinderen die in de Tweede Wereldoorlog het slachtoffer werden van kindermisbruik. Erover praten was taboe.
Ook Wil Elbers (86) uit Beuningen hield meer dan zeventig jaar zijn mond over de geallieerde die hem nachtenlang doodsbang maakte.

Hij wil die stilte doorbreken. Dit is zijn verhaal.