Description

Description:
Counseling scholarship has increasingly demonstrated the utility of relational–cultural theory (RCT) in promoting the relationship building and growth–fostering connections many clients require to manage problems in living. The authors of this article apply RCT to counseling clients who have traumatic stress disorders rooted in traumas of an interpersonal nature (e.g., child abuse, sexual assault, interpersonal partner violence). An overview of traumatic stress disorders and RCT, as well as the ways in which RCT can inform trauma conceptualization and treatment approaches with victims, is here discussed.

Objectives:

1. Examine how relational-cultural theory (RCT) can be applied when counseling clients who have traumatic stress disorders.
2. Explore ways in which RCT can inform trauma conceptualization and treatment approaches.

Author(s):

• Victoria E. Kress, PhD, Professor, Youngstown State University
• Maria Haiyasoso, Department of Counseling, Leadership, Adult Education, and School Psychology, Texas State University, San Marcos
• Chelsey Zoldan, M.S.Ed, Medication Assisted Treatment Counselor, Meridian Community Care
• Jessica A. Headley, Teaching Assistant/Adjust Instructor, The University of Akron
• Heather Trepal, PhD, Associate Professor, The University of Texas at San Antonio