TRAUMA AND ADJUSTMENT ESSAY

Psychological theories According to the psychology of extreme circumstances, extreme circumstances are defined as “extraordinary situations that extend beyond an individual’s normal everyday experiences”. These situations are thus highly likely to negatively impact a person’s psychological development and well-being, and also affect their physical health. It is at this juncture important to consider that negative extreme circumstances, like the war in Syria and the subsequent refugee status of many Syrians, occur at a higher frequency than positive extreme circumstances do. According to Ozer et al. (2003), by early adulthood, many individuals usually have experienced extreme circumstances including near-death experiences. While trauma psychology emphasizes the negative effects of extreme circumstances including a variety of diagnoses including post-traumatic stress disorder, positive psychology focuses on hope, altruism resulting from suffering, resilience and posttraumatic growth.

Positive psychological outcomes like resilience, hope and altruism should be encouraged by mental health workers. PTSD In the context of PTSD, there are eight standard criteria used to diagnose it according to the according the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Version 5 (DSM 5), including: • Criterion A- the tendency of being triggered by an event which carried the threat of serious injury or death. • Criterion B-the experiencing of intrusion symptoms such as prolonged and intense stress resulting from reminders of the trauma, a loss of conscious awareness and intrusive memories. • Criterion C-the preference of intentionally avoiding external and internal reminders of the trauma. Interventions Some of the psychological interventions that would be ideal for work on Syrian immigrants by the Refugee Task Force include grief work, which is affected by challenges including the fact that the bringing of all memories of the departed to consciousness may worsen the condition of the client in what may be referred to as an iatrogenic disorder.

Nonetheless, grief counselling has been proven to be effective for mourners experiencing complicated, traumatic or protracted grief reactions (Neimeyer, 2000). Also, critical incident debriefing, or CID, is effective in the treatment of PTSD as seen in the fact that it allows victims of trauma to engage in processing and reflection on the trauma and on its individual effect and even vent their thoughts and emotions. Moreover, in the context of adjustment, it is important for migrants to adopt the assimilation acculturation strategy in order to create peace with both their culture and the new culture they encounter (Cherry & Barker, 2014). The retaining of the Syrian or Arab identity while interacting with other UK citizens is crucial in the prevention of an identity crisis that is common among migrants who seek to completely strip themselves of their culture.

The psychology of self-help advocates for positive thinking in recognizing that one’s behavior is often one’s own worst adversary. By reacting positively to their environment therefore, Syrian refugees can both individually and through group-based models of self-help based on critical psychology reduce trauma and enhance their settlement experience. Furthermore, by proper assessment and documentation of the experiences, skills and education of the Syrian refugees, the Refugee Task Force could help Syrian migrants with foreign credentials acquire employment that is appropriate to their training and experience. References Andreouli, Eleni. Nations and Immigration, (Vol. Baker. Dohrenwend, B. P. (2010) ‘Towards a typology of high-risk major stressful events and situations in posttraumatic stress disorder and related psychopathology’, Psychological Injury and the Law, vol.