Trauma psychology is both the name of a Division within the American Psychological Association (Division 56, Trauma Psychology) and an area of specialization within the practice of psychology by psychologists. Trauma psychology is a paradigm that permits investigators and practitioners to understand the process by which people perceive adversity, react to it, recover to a resilient or growth state or to an unwanted state; draw upon the experience with varying levels of psychosocial growth, at varying levels of trauma, for varying periods of exposure, and varying conditions of recovery.
Trauma Psychology as a Paradigm
The trauma psychology paradigm emerged in 1978 with the publication of the book, Stress Disorders among Vietnam Veterans (NY: Brunner/Mazel). Charles Figley noted in the Introduction: “The following is an attempt to capture the essential dynamics of the war environment to allow the reader to appreciate better the stress disorders which evolved from it” (p. xx). The book...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Figley, C. (1978). Stress disorders among Vietnam veterans. NY: Brunner/Mazel.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this entry
Cite this entry
Figley, C.R. (2012). Trauma Psychology. In: Rieber, R.W. (eds) Encyclopedia of the History of Psychological Theories. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0463-8_301
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0463-8_301
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-0425-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-0463-8
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science