Storytelling eases trauma in teens
Storytelling therapy provides a low-cost option to manage trauma in teens caused by bullying, parental abuse and dating violence.
A new study led by University at Buffalo behavioral health researcher Ellen Volpe will investigate the effectiveness of narrative exposure therapy (NET) at treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance abuse among adolescents who have experienced multiple traumas.
“Trauma is like a book on a shelf full of memories that a person has no control over in terms of when or how it is experienced,” says Volpe, PhD, assistant professor in the UB School of Nursing. “Narrative exposure therapy helps reestablish the link between memories that were destroyed by trauma, allowing people to have more control over the book.”
These links, says Volpe, are what holds together cold, or contextual, memory, such as people, places and events, and hot, or sensory, memory, which includes smells, images, sounds and more. The destruction of this link can cause people to relive a traumatic experience after being triggered by a specific sense, such as a war veteran experiencing PTSD symptoms after hearing exploding fireworks.
NET is a cognitive behavioral therapy that helps participants reconstruct fragmented, traumatic memories into a clear, personalized story. The brief therapy, which can be completed in 12-16 sessions, helps rebuild the memory by asking participants to recall details such as their age during the experience, the timeline of events, their hopes or fears and notable sounds, smells or other senses.
“Across the board, the big difference between recoveries from trauma among adolescents is access to care, whether due to cost, transportation or competing demands,” says Volpe. “Often, these kids are victims of multiple forms or episodes of violence, creating a snowball effect on their mental health.”
If proven effective, Volpe believes NET will provide a cost-effective therapy to offer in low-income, communities.
