Nursing Publications
Contemporary Treatments for Psychological Trauma From the Perspective of Peacekeepers
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-2009
Journal
Canadian Journal of Nursing Research
Volume
41
Issue
2
First Page
114
Last Page
128
Abstract
The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to examine contemporary treatment approaches for psychological trauma from the perspective of peacekeepers. Data were collected via audiotaped interviews with 10 contemporary peacekeepers who had been deployed to Somalia, Rwanda, or the former Yugoslavia. The participants were asked to describe their experience with various treatments for psychological trauma. Narratives from the transcribed interviews were reviewed with the participants and their comments solicited for rigour and verification of meaning. A thematic analysis of the text, conducted to examine the ways in which contemporary treatment approaches help peacekeepers to heal from trauma, revealed 3 themes: medications as helping the most, understanding what is going on, and self-healing as a journey of discovery. The embodied nature of healing from trauma among contemporary peacekeepers should not be overlooked. Studies on the efficacy of different treatment modalities for psychological trauma, including mind-body complementary therapies, are needed.
