Person-Centered, Trauma Informed Care for Holocaust Survivors
All “Holocaust survivors have endured trauma” according to Kavod, a journal dedicated to survivors (2018). Results of their trauma are physical, neurological, psychological, social, and cultural impacts. Physical impacts include, but are not limited to poor dental care and diabetes, and if the Holocaust survivor lived in the Former Soviet Union near Chernobyl, they faced all kinds of problems due to the radiation (benign tumors, heart disease, pulmonary disease, etc.). Neurological impacts include Dementia and Alzheimers. Psychological impacts include, but are not limited to hoarding (afraid of not having enough because they had nothing during the war), PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Social impacts include, but are not limited to trust issues, 2nd and 3rd generation intergenerational trauma, living below the poverty line, etc.. And the cultural impacts of the trauma mostly have an effect on religion. Some Holocaust survivors become culturally religious because they feel as though God have saved them, while others become anti-religious because they question “why did God allow this tragedy to happen?” With all of these impacts of their trauma in-mind, the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) knew that Holocaust survivors needed more than regular trauma-informed care. So in 2015, JFNA came up with Person-Centered Trauma-Informed Care (PCTI) that would address all the needs of survivors that are not just limited to therapy. PCTI is a “holistic approach to providing services. It would promote dignity, strength, and empowerment of trauma victims by incorporating knowledge about trauma in victims’ lives into agency programs, policies and procedures” (ACL 2021). In addition to therapy, other services will be provided that focus on mental, cognitive, and physical health, education and training to caregivers and people who will routinely interact with the survivor, socialization with support groups, and support for families of survivors and their caregivers. JFNA awarded over 80 plus sub-grants to nonprofit organizations like Jewish Family & Children Services. The goals and services of the program include: “reduce social isolation among survivors; improve the physical, emotional, mental, and cognitive health of survivors; increase survivors’ access to supportive, legal, and financial services; and train and educate professional staff, family caregivers, and volunteers about caring for survivors in a PCTI way” (Kavod 2018).
Person-Centered Trauma-Informed Care is unique in the sense that all services are catered toward the patient, meaning that no treatment plan or interaction is the same. The environment will adjust in accordance to the patient’s needs and their triggers. Services are meant to be given in a safe, non-threatening, and non-traumatizing manner. Yesterday, I was able to interview a social worker from Jewish Children & Family Services who offered me an example of how the environment adjusted to her client. One of her clients, a Holocaust survivor, was a widower who had trouble sharing his story and had a lot of anxiety coming into the office. She asked him, “what makes you relaxed before going to bed?” He described that listening to classical music and dancing relieved his anxiety. So for every meeting with him, she would play classical music when he walked in and danced in the room for 5 minutes with the door open. Once that idea had occurred, the following session he was able to share his story. In a typical therapy session, it is unusual to do this, but in PCTI, everything is based on the individual’s comfort in their environment and the people they surround. Jewish Children & Family Services also train staff, volunteers, caregivers, and family members how to interact with the survivor and how to recognize signs of post-traumatic stress. In one year of the program, 98% of trained participants of PCTI felt that “they can now identify potentially traumatizing situations that may impact survivors” while 94% felt that “they are competent in creating a trauma-informed environment for Holocaust survivors” (Kavod 2018).
Overall, the recently established PCTI care program has been proven effective, and according to the social worker I had interviewed, she sees a great deal of improvement in her patients, many of whom turn their trauma into a positive thing by sharing their stories to others.
Works Cited
Person-centered, trauma-informed service. ACL Administration for Community Living. (2021, November 8). Retrieved from https://acl.gov/programs/strengthening-aging-and-disability-networks/advancing-care-holocaust-survivors-older
Teaching about trauma: Models for training service providers in person-centered, trauma-informed care. Kavod. (2018, February 27). Retrieved from http://kavod.claimscon.org/2018/02/teaching-about-trauma-models-for-training-service-providers-in-person-centered-trauma-informed-care/