How do the Context and the Setting Constitute the Practice and the Person of the Rural Trauma Therapist : A Literature Review and Proposed Structured Interview Format

Abstract

The author introduces the potential pairing of rural therapy and trauma therapy practice as a topic of investigation as well as situating her subjectivity within the context of living with the effects of embedded post-traumatic responses, relative to interacting with researching and writing this text, and practicing therapy in rural community. Rural West Kootenay community characteristics and rural therapy practice context are interwoven to illustrate the rich depth and detail found in this region. The complex nature of the rural clinician‟s personal and professional relationships follows, with discussion of multiple relationships and resources which have been developed to analyze and make decisions based upon ethical practice. Five complete published theory and practice models of trauma therapy are explored with relevance to rural context, and a summary and recommendations for practice and further study are then made. A proposed research instrument investigating rural trauma therapists‟ personal and practice experience of providing therapy follows.