Ill or injured: Shifting the emphasis to trauma in mental health diagnosis and treatment.

Abstract

This contribution examines the disparity that exists between research that identifies the prevalence of trauma among mental health service users and the low frequency of adequately diagnosing and treating trauma in practice. For this author, the important question to pose is "Could behavioral health services be persistently erring in both diagnoses and treatment approaches to adequately assist and support service users?" The author proposes an alternative service model which is aligned with the prevalence of complex trauma. Data is presented that supports the high incidence of trauma among service users as well as the historical efficacy of relationship-based treatment. Personal experience is shared in conjunction with an overview of research in support of the prevalence of trauma and the efficacy of relationship-based treatment. Shifting our diagnostic focus away from biomedical illness to be inclusive of trauma-based, developmental injury will align mental health and rehabilitation practice more adequately with research and encourage improved diagnostic accuracy and a shift toward relationship-based treatment interventions, thereby hopefully improving outcomes for our service recipients. (PsycINFO Database Record