Trauma, intersubjectivity, and the body: Theory, research, and clinical implications

Trauma’s impact on the individual is holistic in nature. In fact, trauma may damage the mind and the body at multiple levels of functioning. It causes severe distress on the psychobiological levels, and it challenges the individual’s self-structure, beliefs about world, and patterns of relationships. Consequently, a comprehensive approach is needed for the assessment and treatment of trauma- and stressor-related disorders. This means a quantum leap in trauma research. In other words, we need to combine and integrate knowledge from different fields of trauma studies in order to better understand and address trauma symptoms. In this panel session, we will try to follow this direction, by integrating relevant findings from neurophysiological, psychosomatic, developmental, and therapy outcome research on trauma. Critical constructs for the understanding of trauma responses—including, but not limited to, dissociation, somatization, childhood experiences of care and abuse, attachment, social support—will be discussed, together with new findings on therapy process, and preliminary evidences about physiological correlates of effective trauma treatments.