TPC-Journal-V4-Issue3

The Professional Counselor \Volume 4, Issue 3 260 who watched the World Trade Center collapse from thousands of miles away and a survivor who escaped the building directly. Some postulated that weakening the A1 criteria had detrimental outcomes in client care and in forensic and disability settings and supported a narrower definition of trauma (Rosen & Lilienfeld, 2008). Others starkly disagreed, suggesting that what may be traumatic for one individual may not be for another, and that an attempt to include all possible traumatic events within the context of a diagnosis was futile (Brewin et al., 2009). Numerous researchers and clinicians have remarked that for no other diagnosis in the DSM is a specific precursory event stipulated, and they have argued for the removal of the A1 event altogether (Brewin et al., 2009), questioning the compulsory relationship between a traumatic event and PTSD (i.e., other disorders may result from such an event) and asserting that minor events, repeated over time, can likewise lead to PTSD. More prominent was dispute over the latter stressor requirement (A2). Friedman et al. (2011) emphasized that the presence of a subjective response did not predict that an individual who would go on to develop PTSD. Although these subjective responses are characteristic trauma reactions, limiting the range of psychological responses may discount subpopulations, most notably survivors of sexual and partner violence, military and first responders (Friedman et al., 2011). The predominant post-traumatic reactions of interpersonal violence survivors include anger, guilt and shame; the military and first responders often report not having an immediate emotional reaction to traumatic exposure as a result of their training. In a sample of adult sexual assault survivors, over 75% endorsed shame as a leading psychological response (Vidal & Petrak, 2007). Over 20% of survivors were misdiagnosed due to not meeting the A2 criteria (Creamer, McFarlane, & Burgess, 2005). Three-factor Model: The Avoidance and Numbing Debate The third criterion for a PTSD diagnosis in DSM-IV-TR included experiencing at least three symptoms related to either behavioral avoidance or affective numbing (APA, 2000). Having a double-barreled criterion engendered considerable disagreement in trauma research and clinical practice. Although these two constructs were initially considered synonymous, with emotional numbing serving as a volitional form of emotional avoidance, research has elucidated differences in their bases, functions and neurophysiological underpinnings (Asmundson, Stapleton, & Taylor, 2004). Foa, Riggs, and Gershuny (1995) further determined that emotional numbing, over and above avoidance or another symptomatic feature of PTSD, best distinguishes PTSD from other diagnostic categories. Conceptually, authors (Foa, Zinbarg, & Rothbaum, 1992; Ullman & Long, 2008) frequently distinguished avoidance and numbing by examining the intentionality behind the event: whereas avoidance represents conscious attempts to escape trauma-related stimuli or responses, numbing is an unconscious and automatic physiological response to trauma exposure. Confirmatory factor analyses substantiated such claims and repeatedly demarcated a four-factor rather than a three-factor model of PTSD that differentiates avoidance and numbing (Friedman et al., 2011). The integrated conceptualization of numbing and avoidance had marked significance on clinical practice. It was often difficult to confirm three of the seven conditions (Sch tzwohl & Maercker, 1999), leading to subthreshold diagnoses or underdiagnosis. Further, the severity of numbing precipitated a category of trauma survivors marked by the most chronic and pervasive disturbances following trauma and most pronounced disruptions in daily life (Breslau, Reboussin, Anthony, & Storr, 2005). In addition, Asmundson et al. (2004) determined that symptoms of avoidance and numbing are differentially influenced by treatment approaches, reinforcing the notion that avoidance and numbing should be considered and clinically addressed as distinct symptomatic concerns. Further, using the DSM-IV , a clinician treating an unconscious response (i.e., numbing) as an intentional action (i.e., avoidance) could unintentionally lead to treatment that was ineffective, blaming, disempowering or even re-traumatizing to clients.