The Complete Guide to Crisis & Trauma Counseling: What to Do and Say When it Matters Most



The Complete Guide to Crisis & Trauma Counseling: What to Do and Say When it Matters Most

Summary

The Complete Guide to Crisis and Trauma Counseling is, undoubtedly a remarkable book written by Dr. H. Norman Wright. The book is an outcome of forty years of clinical and classroom experience which extensively shares the real life stories. The book gives a clear understanding of crises management and counseling with utmost healing power. The book is written in a biblical style, which inspires readers to follow the path of complete restoration.

Comprising of twenty chapters, Dr. Wright provides a wide range of methods to help people with a painful condition of crises and trauma. He highlights in his writings that counseling from a biblical perception is long lasting and cause immediate healing effect. On a number of occasions, the writer quotes Jesus and his teachings regarding helping people (Jacobs et al, 1987). The Jesus was the Savior and the Messiah. The names point out his compassion and love to help those who are in need. The writer explains that when Jesus taught us to love people and to encourage them if they are in difficulty, then why the mankind cannot follow these teachings (Lord, 2013),

The writer is absolutely right in claiming that Jesus gave a new dimension to people's thinking. The focus shifted from unimportant matters of life to important and meaningful and matters. Life does not always revolve around material gains. It is a gift which must be used to spread happiness, hope, courage and help among mankind as Jesus showed through his teachings and the actions. The writer is justified in stating that counseling and guidance are the primary job of a teacher. This counseling and guidance have an eternal effect (Bowlby, 1977a).

Counseling trauma, according to Dr. Wright, helps people recover from the grief. Any person, who is in grief, needs a shoulder to cry on, and safe people to share sorrows. The definition of grief given by Dr. Wright perfectly fits in all situations. Grief is basically the end or final result, which is against someone's expectations. The feeling arises on the moment when something happens against the will, is grief. It is because of the fact that man, right from his creation is afraid of change. If a change brings a loss, it becomes even worse and creates trauma and crisis (Attig, 2000).

The detailed discussion on crisis and loss provides readers with the in depth knowledge of how to deal with them. The writer also discusses the recently developed type of grief which is incurred due to the loss of relationship that cannot be announced publicly and the person cannot show his grief over that, such as non-kin relationships (Frey, 1980). The eight facets discussed by the writer provide a clear understanding about how a counselor should treat people with grief or trauma. Defensive modes, such as self-denial, rationalization and idealization are the ...