The Dangers of Trauma Talk: Counterstorying Co-occurring Strategies for Coping With Trauma

Feminist narrative practice begins by making space for women's trauma stories and appreciating the linguistic poverty and social constraints that limit their speech. Women often find themselves struggling to tell their stories, to find a framework for their stories in the context of prevailing master narratives. Talking of violence and trauma is often experienced as dangerous, at least in part because the available discourse fails women and contributes to unhelpful social responses. Drawing on the historical and continued influence of feminist trauma work, this article acknowledges the multiple efforts women make to cope with histories of trauma and its significant aftermath. For instance, research shows a relationship between trauma and depression, eating disorders, and use of alcohol. Narrative therapeutic conversations will illustrate the creation of counterstories through compassionate and nonpathologizing counterviewing of co-occurring coping strategies women often use to deal with the effects of trauma on their lives.