How Comics Can Change the Way We Treat Trauma
by Abby Hershler and Lesley Hughes, co-editors of Looking at Trauma: A Toolkit for Clinicians
Childhood trauma is often followed by shame, silence, confusion, secrecy, and fear. Looking away works for a while—until it doesn’t.
We (Abby Hershler and Lesley Hughes) are two trauma therapists who have heard the same story from so many trauma survivors: “I finally reached out for help. But my doctor/counsellor told me I needed to see an expert.” While a referral to a trauma specialist makes sense, it can often mean waiting months, even years, for help. The societal cost of unaddressed childhood trauma amounts to billions of dollars annually. But health care providers often feel ill-equipped to offer support.
In an effort to narrow this health care gap, we collaborated with a medical illustrator, Patricia Nguyen, and her professor, Shelley Wall, to offer a solution: a book that explores trauma-focused and trauma-informed therapy through comics. Looking at Trauma: A Toolkit for Clinicians is creative and user-friendly, offering trauma-informed tools for all health care providers and educators.
Leveraging the power of visual learning, these comics take readers along a journey of discovery, making highly emotional information more accessible. The relatable character in the comics captures how childhood trauma is reexperienced in adulthood with distressing symptoms and unhealthy patterns of behavior. Alongside each comic is a written chapter that expands on each of the illustrated educational topics. This combination is more powerful than words alone.
For example, one model, called “Parallel Lives,” explores traumatic reenactments and triggers as the main character trips and becomes immersed in water and entangled in weeds. The weeds and water represent memories and traumatic losses from the past, a visual that provides a powerful and easy-to-understand metaphor and entry point for self-discovery.
Looking at Trauma encourages safety, stability, creativity, and therapeutic connection as clinicians and their clients begin to make meaning together. We hope to disarm the powerful forces of shame and stigma associated with trauma and promote trauma-informed care, one comic at a time.
Looking at Trauma: A Toolkit for Clinicians is now available from Penn State University Press. Find more information and order the book here: https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-09207-2.html. Save 30% with discount code NR21.