My Training at the Victims of Violence Programme - Cambridge Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Maria Minkova

I have been working as a psychologist at "Animus Association" Foundation since 1997. After gaining some practical experience I felt the need of specialised knowledge on helping the recovery process in survivors of violence. This made me look for possibilities to specialize abroad. My need of further training coincided with the overall effort of the whole team to raise the level of professionalism of our work.
Between September 1999 and August 2000 I was a trainee at the Victims of Violence Programme (VOV) at the Psychiatric Department of Cambridge Hospital affiliated with Harvard Medical School (Cambridge, Massachusets). This is one of the first specialised Programmes providing psychotherapeutic services and implementing researches on psychological trauma. In the 70-ies many grass-roots organisations defending women's rights were established. The informal self-support groups of Vietnam veterans emerged at the same time. After this the professionals from the helping professions themselves also come to terms with the need of specialised centers for helping people suffering the consequences of psychological trauma. Answering this need the Vicitms of Violence Programme was established 16 years ago.

The VOV approach in the work with survivors of violence is based on the ecological view on the psychological trauma (developed by Mary Harvey, PhD) and the three- stage model of recovery (developed by Judith Herman, MD). It promotes the idea that there are distinguishable phases in the process of recovery and different therapeutic interventions are appropriate at each of them. The psychological trauma is viewed in the context of individual development and social situation of the individual. The key role of the supportive environment for a successful recovery from the consequences of traumatic experience is proved. Each year psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers specialize at the porgramme. The training consists of conducting individual psychotherapy under supervision, conducting group psychotherapy under supervision and participation in clinical discussions and attending seminars.

I think of my training at the VOV as a rare opportunity. I had the chance to work with patients from a different culture in a different language. My meetings with them made me realize the universal character of the consequences of psychological trauma but it also made me think of the diversity of their manifestation. I became interested in the influence of the social attitudes and the cultural environment on the recovery process. As e result I have developed a theoretical course "Consequences of Violent Experience: Clinical Manifestation of Psychological Trauma" which became part of the MA Programmeme in Clinical Social Work at the New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria.

My training at the VOV contributes to the overall raising of the professional level of the whole service. Through my experience within the well-organised team of the VOV Programme I have learned a lot about the professional standards in our field. This knowledge was introduced in Animus through elaborating the procedures for in-take and assessment of clients, documenting and data gathering. Another direct result of my training introduced in our current work would be the group therapy sessions for survivors of violence, orientated towards overcoming the post-traumatic consequences.
After this one year I feel more involved in the issue of psychological trauma. I have learned more about psychtherapeutic help, my research interest was awakened. As a result I feel more motivated to work with survivors of violence. My one-year absence from Animus Association gave me the distance needed to be able to assess the development of the service in comparison with other similar centers abroad. That is why I feel more confidence in the approach undertaken by our team now. I see the work of my organisation and my personal contribution as a part of an international movement defending the women's right of nonviolence and this gives me e a sense of meaning.