Melissa (Missy) Bradley-Ball – Restoring Life After Sexual Trauma

Outline

Foundational Essentials of Trauma

Levels of Functioning

• Victim
• Survivor
• Thriver
• What are the developmental needs at each level?
• Immediate treatment vs. treatment decades later

Understanding the Progression of Sexual Assault: The Impact on the Complexity of Trauma

• Identification of “potholes” and best approaches to deal with them
• Trauma imprints and their complications
• Trauma rituals
• How to redirect the ritual
• Themis—the often-hidden PRIMARY trauma
• Trauma composites—recognizing and dismantling
• Somatic, cognitive, behavioral, emotional, sensory details
• Sexual trauma activation over the course of a lifespan
• Developmental (possible) “flare up” times
  • Pregnancy
  • Surgery
  • Developmental stages
  • Loss
• Medical reactivation of sexual trauma

Treatment Interventions with Individuals and Couples

• Assessing strengths and deficits of Post-Traumatic Growth
• Which approach? Group, couple, individual, or family? When? How?
• Setting up Resources
  • Somatic grounding—creating safety and resetting natural survival responses
  • Energy psychology approaches
  • Cognitive-behavioral approaches and creation of positive portfolios
  • “Preparing the team”—assembling the internal team
  • Utilizing external supports as assistants—spouse/partner, family, and friends
  • Reclaiming the ability for intimacy
  • Making Sense and Meaning
    • The heroic journey resilience narrative
    • Utilizing movies and literature as resources
    • Assisting the client to incorporate resources from their spiritual tradition
    • Memories: micro or macro—titrating pain and incorporating the narrative

Special Areas and Considerations of Sexual Trauma

• Dissociation
• Addictions
• Axis II
• Military Sexual Trauma (MST)
• Sex trafficking
• High-profile media cases

Discussion of Adjunct Therapies

• Bodywork: Breema, Reiki, massage, acupuncture, and more
• Appropriate timing of encouraging other resources