In the Aftermath of a Shooting Trauma: Application of Family Informed Trauma Treatment

When one has experienced a trauma (single event), how are loved ones typically affected? What guides a trauma clinician in the therapeutic response to the family? The individual may be forever changed; partners, parents and siblings often experience adverse physical and emotional effects that are similar to those experienced by the survivor who has been violated. The family may serve as a resource for support or an obstacle that blocks a traumatized member's path to recovery Families may become "trauma-organized systems" [2], with emotional and behavioral patterns primarily centered around the traumatic experience of the survivor, manifesting on a family system level between parents, between parent and child and between siblings. Utilizing the case-study model, the authors illustrate the application of a family-centered, trauma informed