Developmental Reenactment Trauma Therapy
What is DRTT? To be honest, it is a model of therapy that I developed after years of working with people who experience Type 2 PTSD. To be even more honest, there is nothing really new about it. You know:
“There is nothing new under the sun.”
The idea came to me one day when a wonderful client of mine said, “I have to learn to re-trust my mom all over again.” With this, I realized that repeated trauma can be very destructive to many of our foundational understandings; you know, “I’m safe,” “People respect my boundaries,” and “I’m competent.”
Paging Dr. Erikson
Erik Erikson said that humans will experience 8 primary crises throughout their life, starting with birth and ending in old age. Here they are.
“There is nothing new under the sun.”
The idea came to me one day when a wonderful client of mine said, “I have to learn to re-trust my mom all over again.” With this, I realized that repeated trauma can be very destructive to many of our foundational understandings; you know, “I’m safe,” “People respect my boundaries,” and “I’m competent.”
Paging Dr. Erikson
Erik Erikson said that humans will experience 8 primary crises throughout their life, starting with birth and ending in old age. Here they are.
Age |
Stage |
Birth - 2 |
Trust vs. Mistrust |
2-3 |
Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt |
3-6 |
Initiative vs. Guilt |
7-12 |
Industry vs. Inferiority |
12-18 |
Identity vs. Identity Confusion |
18-30 |
Intimacy vs. Isolation |
30-60 |
Generativity vs. Stagnation |
60-90 |
Integrity vs. Despair |
I believe that we go through similar stages every time we enter into a new relationship. You know, “can I trust this person,” “can I be myself around this person,” “am I pulling my weight in this relationship,” and so on.
In relation to trauma, I realized that those who have been chronically traumatized, especially by someone they trusted, have had all these stages re-written. In other words, they need to start all over again, but this time with a trustworthy person. In comes the therapist. Now I know that therapists are kind of weird and not all should be trusted, but for the most part, we should be the epitome of a healthy relationship for the client. It is with the therapist in which the client can reenact these stages in a healthy way. In a way that will help them rebuild the foundational principles of healthy relationships and life in general.
The 3 Tiered Trauma Model
The tried and true treatment model for Type 2 PTSD has three basic stages:
In relation to trauma, I realized that those who have been chronically traumatized, especially by someone they trusted, have had all these stages re-written. In other words, they need to start all over again, but this time with a trustworthy person. In comes the therapist. Now I know that therapists are kind of weird and not all should be trusted, but for the most part, we should be the epitome of a healthy relationship for the client. It is with the therapist in which the client can reenact these stages in a healthy way. In a way that will help them rebuild the foundational principles of healthy relationships and life in general.
The 3 Tiered Trauma Model
The tried and true treatment model for Type 2 PTSD has three basic stages:
- Stabilization
- Education
- Caring for yourself
- Learning to calm down
- Learning to feel Safe
- Learning to Trust
- Establishing boundaries (i.e. autonomy)
- Re-experiencing and Mourning
- Reconnection
Notice that the very first stage includes Trust (safety) and Autonomy (Boundaries), Erikson’s first two stages. With further research, I realized that the actual three tiered model and Erikson’s stages fit quite nicely together.
With this framework, I realized that clients tend to reenact these stages in trauma treatment utilizing some very basic, yet very analytically important ways. If the therapist is attuned to how the client is reenacting these stages with them, it allows the therapist to offer a “corrective therapeutic experience,” or an experience that will help the client reevaluate and change patterns.
So what should the therapist be attuned to? Here are just a few hints as to what to look for in specific stages. Be aware that I added only the smallest snippet of information from the work to be done in each stage. If you are interested, it may be beneficial to get the book when published.
With this framework, I realized that clients tend to reenact these stages in trauma treatment utilizing some very basic, yet very analytically important ways. If the therapist is attuned to how the client is reenacting these stages with them, it allows the therapist to offer a “corrective therapeutic experience,” or an experience that will help the client reevaluate and change patterns.
So what should the therapist be attuned to? Here are just a few hints as to what to look for in specific stages. Be aware that I added only the smallest snippet of information from the work to be done in each stage. If you are interested, it may be beneficial to get the book when published.
