Does the Wide Reach of the "Trauma-informed" Model Exceed its Narrow Grasp
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2921022 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Vojtech Pisl (0000-0003-3969-468X, Charles University, corresponding author), Sanne Te Meerman (0000-0002-2337-430X, University of Groningen), Allen Frances (Duke University), Laura Batstra (0000-0002-1638-2520, University of Groningen) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Publication date | 2025-08-19 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Culture Medicine and Psychiatry (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0165-005X • E-ISSN: 1573-076X |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11013-025-09938-z |
| PMID | 40830692 |
| OpenAlex | W4413315705 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 60 |
Compared to the biomedical model of mental suffering, the increasingly influential trauma model has received little critical attention. We examine the discursive practices justifying and promoting the trauma-informed care: a set of assumptions and clinical recommendations presented as universal and uncontested guidelines for mental health practitioners. Critical review of two major guidelines for trauma-informed care - the SAMHSA's Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach (2014) and A paradigm shift: relationships in trauma-informed mental health services by Sweeney et al. (2018) - was inspired by critical discourse analysis and the analysis of reification. Trauma-informed care is a diverse set of recommendations combining generally accepted standards with the notion of broadly defined trauma as the primary cause of mental suffering. We have identified mechanisms that (1) present the broad trauma model as an assumption-free description of reality, (2) portray it as superior to other models, and (3) elevate the authority of those who adopt the broad trauma model to interpret the suffering of others. The discursive procedures found in the trauma-informed manuals are similar to those documented in the biomedical-psychiatric literature. Potential risks include iatrogenic harm, politicization of mental health care, and reduction of its diversity and effectiveness. Evaluation of the guidelines from the perspectives of safety, cultural validity, ethics, and cost-effectiveness should precede their implementation into clinical practice
Diversity (politics · Harm · Health care · Mental health · Mental illness · Political science · Psychiatry · Psychological trauma · Psychotherapist · Reification (Marxism · Set (abstract data type · Law · Medicine · Mental Health and Psychiatry · Mental Health Treatment and Access · Psychiatric care and mental health services · Psychology · Social Psychology
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
The Diagnosis of Mental Disorders
Deconstructing the construct
A paradigm shift
Psychological Treatments That Cause Harm
What promotes post traumatic growth? A systematic review
Childhood Adversities Increase the Risk of Psychosis
A Synthesis of the Literature on Trauma-Informed Care
The bright side of being blue
Are mental health awareness efforts contributing to the rise in reported mental health problems? A call to test the prevalence inflation hypothesis
Political diversity will improve social psychological science
The Need for a New Medical Model
Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis
Cultural Trauma and Collective Identity
The Politicised Child, Transcultural Constructions of Childhood, Psychological Trauma, and the Mind in the Modern World
Why mental disorders are brain disorders. And why they are not
Does broadening one's concept of trauma undermine resilience
Loss, trauma, and human resilience
ADHD and reification
Dictating the boundaries of ab/normality
The language of critical discourse analysis
Cognitive and physiological antecedents of threat and challenge appraisal
Cultural competence and evidence-based practice in mental health
The Creeping Concept of Trauma
Back from the edge of existence
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |