A colleague requested information on trauma informed interventions specifically for seniors who have experienced abuse. Can you recommend articles? research etc?
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It's after midnight in my time zone, but I know that there's quite a literature (academic) developing addressing the topic of older people still having ongoing trauma issues (just do a Google Scholar search), including some showing signs of trauma in people who have started developing dementia (Browne & Shlosberg, 2006 DOI:10.1080/13607860500312118). I'll continue to follow this topic, in "normal hours", to see what people come up with, especially as I'm interested in seeing if anyone's developed interventions to help the older age person still suffering from symptoms of trauma.
Suffice to say I currently have one client, age 72, who spent his school years, from age 8 onwards boarding away from his parents, who is a real challenge to try to help (PTSD, maybe even CPTSD), due to his having huge problems "connecting" with others AND due to his avoidant attachment style as a result of his experiences during those formative years. People with such styles very often drop out of treatment "unexpectedly" after only a few sessions, despite how much they truly want "connection", so "forewarned is fore armed" -- therapists need to prepare themselves and their clients for dealing with these difficulties as early as possible in their relationships with clients presenting with these issues.
Using Thought Field Therapy, the first of the Energy Psychology methods, can easily and painlessly relieve her distress from trauma. Visit tappinttft.com for more information. I have used this therapy for over 15 years and love it because: it works, it works fast, no side effects, and seems to last forever. Nothing ingested, inhaled, injected. Effects are felt immediately.
Dealing with my Mom's onset of dementia (Caused by Alzheimer's disease and Lewy Bodies) she slowly withdrew from friends and current affair conversations. This was over a 5-6 year period before the onset of dementia. So I would suggest checking into that first.
As an EMT I have presented the ACE survey in the field. Seniors are polite and well receptive. In conversation they are revealing more by stories than score. But the few I have interviewed have come around to admit a higher score than first revealed.
Early in my ACE development I came across an elderly person that had been treated for suicidal tendency for 25 years. Their phone alarm went off and they gave the explanation they HAD to take there meds for their condition. A lengthy conversation followed. Two family members completed suicide. After 25 years the current therapist (Being the 4th) said, "I don't know what you want me to say. I'm not going to say anything different from the last therapists." I offered the ACE survey. They scored high, but I do not remember the exact score. And what followed next is one of the driving forces for me. "No one has ever asked me these question. Not in this way." What originally brought my attention to this person was that none of us new they lived in the community. They were a recluse.
If it's not broke, don't fix it. The original 10 questions will be enough to work with. Be brave and remember. If you're not blurring the boundaries of your practice, you're not doing enough for your patient.
I hope this has helped.
Hello Susan,
I am very intrigued by this topic and I thank you for your question. I am working with a hospice care team here in my local community to explore how they can use ACEs information to inform their services. If you are interested, please send me a private message and I can connect you with them.
I hope others have more to add to this discussion. If you haven't seen her work, I would highly recommend that you check out Pauline Boss. She is brilliant. Here is a link to some of her Ted Talks and I have attached one of her articles about Ambiguous Loss.
Cheers,
Kody
Kody Russell posted:Hello Susan,
I am very intrigued by this topic and I thank you for your question. I am working with a hospice care team here in my local community to explore how they can use ACEs information to inform their services. If you are interested, please send me a private message and I can connect you with them.
I hope others have more to add to this discussion. If you haven't seen her work, I would highly recommend that you check out Pauline Boss. She is brilliant. Here is a link to some of her Ted Talks and I have attached one of her articles about Ambiguous Loss.
Cheers,
Kody
I really like this -- perhaps you could get them to join ACEsC if they're not members and that way have your hospice colleagues contribute directly to the discussion. I'm sure it's likely to be a valuable addition to their existing care services, as it is to services for the elderly -- recognising that not all the patients in the hospice are of older years.
Thank You for posting this query, Susan Hess.
I've noticed something of late, as I switched primary care physicians recently. The last one wouldn't acknowledge the [validity of the] ACE study.
For the past six months, I've been experiencing "toxic stress" at the elderly public housing I've resided in for about 7 1/2 years. I'd been 'homeless' just prior to that, for about 7 months. The toxic stress, may be exacerbating remnants of [what remains of] my PTSD (or unaddressed ACEs- I had an ACE score of 6, and a Resilience score of 10, when I recently self-administered the CDC/Kaiser ACE questions [not the World Health Org. ACE International Questionaire-which may have more ACE categories]).
Although I did EMDR-in 1994, the first time, which stopped flashbacks I'd endured for 28 years, it was before I'd learned of the ACE Study. I'd also attended a "Grand Rounds" continuing education session at [then Dartmouth, now] Geisel Medical School by an Epidemiologist, in 2000, who noted: "52% of Detroit Metropolitan Area Schoolchildren met the [then] DSM-IV criteria for PTSD". I didn't go to school in Detroit, but I'd witnessed similar circumstances as a young adult, in the Southeast Bronx, during visits there in the early 1970's.
I found the ACEsConnection blog post today: Alice Miller's "For Your Own Good: Hidden cruelty..." to be significant--in view of the current level of televised Presidential debates, and other recent presidential election media coverage --which may exacerbate any 'untreated' ACEs in a sizable portion of our elderly population. On page 2 of that blog, "To make her case, Miller notes the example of Hitler's childhood to show the genesis of his insatiable hatred....". For those of us of German descent (my maternal grandparents were both of German origin), there may be 'trans-generational' [childhood] trauma...
Wow! Thank you so much everyone for all the amazing resources and insights. I will copy and paste now to my colleague!
One of my former neighbors, in our elderly housing project, was evicted for smoking in her [non-smoking] apartment. Before she vacated the apartment, we'd had a few conversations. She once described the circumstances when she started smoking at age 13. Her mother and some of her siblings had fled the household, and her father told her [and her older sister] they didn't need to go to school any longer (apparently the school district never inquired why she dropped out of school at 13 years old). Her father said she could work in the family wood lot, cutting trees, etc., and cigarette smoke would keep the flies away. When she later told me that she wasn't sure if her father was the father of one of her children, a whole lot made sense to me. I urged her to call our local domestic violence and sexual assault hotline. I don't know if she did. She's deceased now, and hopefully "at peace".
