Treating Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karyn Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities

Compassion-focused therapy for trauma in people with intellectual disabilities: A conceptual review

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Cowles ◽  
Cathy Randle-Phillips ◽  
Andrew Medley
Keyword(s):  
General Population ◽  
Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Compassion Focused Therapy ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
People With Intellectual Disabilities

Trauma exposure and post-traumatic stress disorder are more prevalent in people with intellectual disabilities (PWID) than in the general population, yet the evidence base for trauma interventions in this population is sparse. Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) may be particularly well-suited to PWID for a number of reasons, including its adaptability to different developmental levels. PWID are more likely to have issues with self-relating (e.g. shame and self-criticism) and attachment than the general population, two issues that are compounded by trauma and which CFT explicitly seeks to address. Furthermore, compassion-focused approaches emphasize cultivating a sense of safeness while empowering people to make behavioural changes; this is particularly pertinent to PWID who have been traumatized and may feel unsafe and disempowered. An overview of CFT and its application to trauma are given, as well as some case studies using CFT with PWID.

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