The Use of Collaborative Dialogic Practices with Clients who have Experienced Trauma

Trauma-informed care has been an important movement in the field of psychotherapy, to which researchers often note the importance of understanding trauma as a necessary component to being a competent clinician. Marriage and family therapy models have been identified to be effective when working with clients who have experienced trauma. Several models of psychotherapy have been identified to successfully treat clients who have experienced trauma. Additionally, there has been common factors identified in models that work specifically with trauma. Although Marriage and family therapy models have been identified to be successful with trauma work, there are no studies exploring collaborative dialogic practices as a possible model to work with clients who have experienced trauma. A phenomenological approach was used to explore the experiences of collaborative dialogic practitioners who work with clients who have experienced trauma. Twelve participants completed semi-structured interviews, resulting in the development of four themes: 1) language of trauma, 2) relationship building, 3) trust our clients, and 4) it’s in the “how.” These themes were used to provide implications for marriage and family therapists and counselor educators. Limitations and recommendations for future research were also discussed based on the findings of the study.