Helping Clients who Have Experienced Trauma Gain Emotional Literacy

ABSTRACT

Clients who experienced trauma may be unable to access the language to describe the events, emotions, or continued physiological and psychological impacts of trauma on their current experiences. In this article, the authors provide an overview of how trauma impacts the brain and explore a person’s capacity for emotional literacy. The authors present grounding strategies and techniques for using “imagery cards” to improve emotional literacy. The authors demonstrate application of imagery cards through sample scripts and provide suggested steps for implementation.

KEYWORDS:

• Creativity in counseling
• imagery
• trauma