**Author details**

Mayssa' El Husseini1\*, Sara Skandrani2 , Layla Tarazi Sahab3 , Elizabetta Dozio4 and Marie Rose Moro5

\*Address all correspondence to: mayssa.husseini@gmail.com

1 Maison de Solenn Cochin Hospital, CESP, Descartes-Sorbonne University Paris cité, Paris, France


5 Maison de Solenn Cochin Hospital, Descartes-Sorbonne University Paris cité, Paris, France

#### **References**


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176 A Multidimensional Approach to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - from Theory to Practice

\*Address all correspondence to: mayssa.husseini@gmail.com

4 PCPP, Descartes-Sorbonne University Paris cité, Paris, France

2 Maison de Solenn Cochin Hospital, Nanterre University, Paris, France

**Author details**

Marie Rose Moro5

France

**References**

Mayssa' El Husseini1\*, Sara Skandrani2

3 Saint Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon

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#### **"***Growing from an Invisible Wound***" A Humanistic-Existential Approach to PTSD "***Growing from an Invisible Wound***" A Humanistic-Existential Approach to PTSD**

Mélanie Vachon , Prudence C. Bessette and Christine Goyette Mélanie Vachon, Prudence C. Bessette and Christine Goyette

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/64290

#### **Abstract**

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nalytique. Grenoble. La Pensée sauvage.

178 A Multidimensional Approach to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - from Theory to Practice

From a humanistic and existential perspective, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be understood as a normal response to a threatening existential event. The humanisticexistential approach to understanding and treating PTSD also places particular emphasis on the meaning of the traumatic experience and on the awareness of the existential part of the self. Such an understanding conveys to a different approach to trauma assessment and potential for healing in the clinical encounter. In this chapter, we wish to provide a humanistic-existential understanding of trauma. To do so, we review the key humanistic-existential concepts for trauma conceptualization, assessment, and intervention. Afterwards, we present two different short case studies to illustrate and understand the humanistic-existential psychotherapeutic process and its diversity. In conclusion, we discuss the contribution and limits of a humanisticexistential approach to trauma conceptualization, assessment, and healing.

**Keywords:** humanistic-existential approach, meaning, posttraumatic growth, posttraumatic stress disorder

### **1. Introduction**

From a humanistic-existential perspective, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be understood as a "*normal response*" to a threatening existential experience. Such an experience may disturb our sense of inhabiting the world in a safe, coherent, and meaningful manner. As Greening [1] puts it: "*when we experience trauma, our relationship with existence itself is shattered*."

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

The term "*Trauma*," from the Ancient Greek "*trauma*," refers to the notion of "*wound*" or "*damage*." In that sense, PTSD may refer to the wound left by an experience that disrupted the person's previous relationship to self, to others, and to the world. Trauma survivors are often said to live with an "*invisible wound*" in a state of relative chaos that may be left unnoticed. The only concrete manifestations of such internal suffering may narrowly be reduced to a visible configuration of symptoms.

As a matter of fact, mainstream approaches to "*assessing*" and "*treating*" PTSD are repeatedly criticized for their propensity to solely focus on the visible aspects of trauma: symptoms [1, 11, 12]. Therefore, the humanistic-existential perspective may be understood as a complement to the pathology-focused model, which may mainly aim at improving symptom management. The humanistic-existential approach to PTSD may not focus primarily on symptom, or even on the traumatic event itself. It may rather emphasize the exploration of the lived experience of the individual and, most importantly, of its existential meaning.

In this chapter, we aim to discuss how PTSD may be conceptualized, recognized, and healed from a humanistic-existential perspective. To do so, we will review the basic foundations of the humanistic-existential approach. We will explore its unique understanding of human being and his potential for growth and healing. We will also suggest how the humanistic-existential approach can offer a different outlook on trauma comprehension and healing through the introduction of two different case studies. Finally, we will discuss the limits and contributions of the humanistic-existential approach and its implications for the therapist's stance.
