1st Edition
An Existential Approach to Interpersonal Trauma Modes of Existing and Confrontations with Reality
Introduction; Part I Early and contemporary psychotraumatology; 1. Early psychiatric and psychoanalytic psychotraumatology; 2. Paradoxes and tensions; 3. Interpersonal traumas as psychological and social pathologies; 4. Contemporary trauma-focused psychotherapies; Part II An existential understanding of interpersonal trauma; 5. Existential understandings of human suffering and trauma; 6. Existential understandings of traumatic embodiment and identity; 7. Existential ambiguities, liminality and reality-denial in traumatic confrontations; Part III Implications for practice; 8. Implications for practice; References
Biography
Marc Boaz is an existential psychotherapist and visiting professor in public mental health at the University of Northampton. He is a founding member of, and policy advisor to, the UK Trauma Council, hosted by the Anna Freud Centre for Children and Families. Marc also serves on the Disability Advisory Committee of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. He focuses on the relationships between philosophy, social policy, practice and lived experience in the fields of disability, mental health, long-term conditions and youth.
'Trauma theory tends to concentrate on either the event, or the physiological and mental effects on the person. It sees trauma as something that is unusual that happens to other people. These approaches neglect the apparently simple question, ‘What is it that is traumatised?’. In this groundbreaking book Marc Boaz radically reframes this question philosophically. He makes a compelling case for the need to understand interpersonal trauma existentially, and in terms of the paradoxes and dilemmas of our embodied and relational world. The appropriateness of this approach will be brought home to everyone interested in the area by the way he relates his philosophical insights to therapeutic practice.'
Martin Adams, Existential therapist and author of An Existential Approach to Human Development‘This is essential reading for all those wanting to learn more about interpersonal trauma and its theoretical underpinnings. Marc makes an invaluable contribution to field by exploring key concepts and questions about trauma and setting out important implications for practice.’
Kadra Abdinasir, Associate Director for Children and Young People’s Mental Health, Centre for Mental Health
