This document summarizes research on the relationship between sexual assault and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It finds that regardless of gender or age, trauma occurs due to sexual assault, and in most cases this leads to PTSD. Studies show that sexual assault survivors are more likely to experience revictimization, increasing their risk of developing PTSD. While more research is still needed on male victims, findings show that sexual abuse increases the risk of PTSD for both women and men. Early intervention and treatment of trauma symptoms could help prevent long-term PTSD in assault survivors. The document concludes that future research should further explore male victimization and develop interventions for child survivors to prevent lasting trauma effects.

1. 1 Undergraduate Studies ePortfolio Laura O’Brien BA Psychology, 2011

2. Personal Statement At the tender age of 11, my sexual abuse began. There was nowhere for me to turn as questions, depression, and feelings of self-hate enmeshed my formative teen years. I experienced symptoms consistent with PTSD, seldom diagnosed in children particularly in the 1970’s and 80’s. I had repressed memories of the more severe episodes of my abuse, which needed to be brought to light in order for me to heal properly. This may seem a simple idea, but it took me most of my life to understand how my life was truly patterned through a path of denial and unresolved pain. Over the years, my professional life was in built in the banking industry. I found I had great customer service skills, and a penchant for all aspects of banking. I ended my banking career of 27 years, and turned to children once more when my first child was born. I built a phenomenal business caring for hundred’s of children over a span of 15 years. As my own children got older, and my business was running smoothly, I turned my attention back to some other goals I wanted to achieve. I discovered a non-profit organization in my area that helped survivors of trauma. It was then that I became California State certified in sexual assault/rape trauma, and thus began my counseling work with rape survivors for 4 years. The training I received for this certification was incredibly therapeutic, and brought me full circle to my true path: psychology and sociology.

3. Another path that I began to follow took place in 2004. I joined a chorus of women who sing in four-part harmony. My life has forever been changed with this fulfilling, and therapeutic “sport” of singing and dancing. We compete on a Regional level, and once first place has been awarded, we go on to represent the Region on the International level. This has allowed me to travel to cities all around the United States, and Canada. I also have the unique and distinct pleasure in joining my voice in harmony with women from all over the world. The choruses I belong to are part of a non-profit organization, and as such, we need to be self-sufficient. Part of giving back to this organization comes jobs within the chorus. I have done managerial work, welcome and train new members, along with being a leader in various rolls. I have, thus, been able to synch my skills and experience. Continuing my education, combined with my personal history, will allow me to reach out, and be available to the community in which I live. I will be able to maintain my resolution of being there for someone in need after a traumatic experience. I will be able to touch lives in a positive, meaningful way. I will hear, and empathize, and know from a personal and scholarly perspective a survivor’s story. With a BA in Psychology, obtained with a 3.8 GPA, I plan to go forth into the field, as the market allows, and continue my education by pursing my Masters Degree, as I continue to sing and dance, and find the joy in life.

5. Resume Laura O'Brien Dunn (address and phone numbers provided upon request) lauraob.isdunn@yahoo.com Education BA Psychology, Argosy University, anticipated graduation date 4/23/11 (GPA 3.8) Sexual Assault/Rape Trauma Counseling, State of California, San Mateo, CA 2004- 11/2009 AA Psychology, Cape Cod Community College, Barnstable, MA 1981-83 Pre-Med/Psychology with an English minor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 1980-81 Professional Skills and Experience Sexual assault/rape trauma counselor Legal and forensic advocate for rape survivors Hot-line crisis counseling Individual and group therapy California State licensed child care business owner and provider Private scholastic tutoring with a focus on reading and English for ESL students 20+ years in the banking industry

7. Supplemental classes were taken in: caring for Special Needs children, Asthma, nutrition, and Pediatric First Aid and CPR.

8. Member of the Child Care Coordinating Counsel.

9. Worked closely with social workers, lawyers, and the Court for at risk teens while providing a loving atmosphere of acceptance and normalcy for the children.

10. Provided interviews for the County to improve services.1982-1999, 2010-present Various banking positions California, Massachusetts, and Colorado BANKING INDUSTRY Experience in all aspects of the banking industry are part of my expertise including, but not exclusive: loan officer, vault teller, call center, training new employees, new accounts, bookkeeping, assistant manager, conducting audit meetings, teller work, customer service, reviewing applications for potential employees, auditing documents, and having ATM responsibilities

12. Legal advocate for survivors providing emotional support, legal, and forensic information during questioning and examination at the hospital.

13. Counseling provided as follow-up for all cases including significant others and family members.

15. First Aid and CPR Certification

16. California State Certified Sexual Assault and Trauma Counselor

19. Sexual Assault & PTSD power point presentation

20. Cognitive Abilities: Critical Thinking and Information Literacy…Analysis: Patty Heart, a power point presentation

21. Ethics and Diversity Awareness…cultural diversity power point presentation

22. Foundations of Psychology

24. abstract This paper will correlate sexual assault and posttraumatic stress disorder henceforth written as PTSD. It will show regardless of the age or gender of the survivor, trauma occurs. The extent of this trauma, in most cases, lead to PTSD. In a very few cases, rape is treated as trauma when the assault occurs. Therefore, if sexual assault is recognized as a traumatic event, PTSD can be avoided. This paper will also investigate the statistical phenomenon of survivors who are raped will be raped more than once increasing the odds of developing PTSD.

25. Having gathered peer-reviewed research containing empirical statistics, not one article was found that negates the concept that sexual assault and PTSD are related. In fact, the more recent the studies, the findings seem to relate PTSD as a result as opposed to simply naming some of the symptoms, such as depression. “Across all types of abuse, women were more than twice as likely to develop PTSD as men. The sex difference was greatest among sexual abuse victims. Female victims' greater revictimization explained a substantial proportion (39%) of the sex differences in PTSD risk” (Koenen & Windom, 2009).

26. It is extremely relevant to understand the vicious cycle to abuse and sexual assault. Understanding all aspects of an issue can lead to earlier recovery and end the cycle (Sarkar & Sarkar, 2005; Ullman et al, 2007; Read et al, 2007). Attaining the true diagnosis of all sexual assault survivors is imperative. Recognizing sexual assault causes PTSD will help in the dealing with mental health issues early on. Secondly, having studies and statistical data regarding how men/boys respond to sexual assault can only give a clearer understanding in combating this violence as well as helping these male victims get the help and healing they deserve which is so critical.

27. It is recognized more research is needed in the area of men/boys and sexual assault. There are few studies regarding the victimization of males, such as Moore (2006) and Spencer & Dunklee (1986), as opposed to the plethora found regarding women/girls. However, Koenen and Widom (2009) propose that women are twice as likely as men to develop PTSD. Their assertion comes from documented reported childhood sexual abuse: girls have a higher history than boys of sexual victimization, sexual assault and rape. Their studies show over 20% of men and over 40% of women met lifetime criteria for PTSD relating to childhood sexual abuse. An important notation regarding these findings is the sample used for the study was taken only from the mid-Western part of the United States from 1960-1970 and therefore may not be generalized, however compelling.

28. A comprehensive study conducted by Widom, Dutton, Czaja, and DuMont in 2005, correlates a person’s lifetime trauma and victimization (LTVH) using an interview technique of 896 people that were a mixture of documented histories of abuse, and those without documented victimization. In all, 11,850 traumas or victimization were reported. It should be noted that sexual abuse is just one of the components constituting trauma in this study.

29. Olatunji, Elwood, Williams, & Lohr (2008) determined feeling unclean or dirty was felt by victims of rape, in addition to other symptoms such as “general negative view of self, perceived permanent change, alienation from self and others, hopelessness, negative interpretation of symptoms, self-trust, self-blame, trust in other people, and [living in an] unsafe world” (Olatunji et al, 2008). The three prevalent factors relating to PTSD in this study are negative feelings regarding self and the world along with experiencing self-blame.

30. “Sexual abusecharges varied from relatively nonspecific charges of ‘assault and battery with intent to gratify sexual desires” to more specific charges of “fondling or touching in an obscene manner,’ rape, sodomy, incest, and so forth” (Widom, Dutton, Czaja, and DuMont, 2005). The following statistics, gender specific of children between 0-11 years, reported by Widom et al (2005) pertinent to this paper are: “Description Men (%) Women (%) Odds ratio Coerced into unwanted sex 12.9 42.5 4.99 Attempted forced sex 11.0 21.4 2.20 Private parts touched 4.8 13.8 3.15”

31. Further developing studies on children may benefit their healing process and help to avoid dysfunctional personal perceptions as they grow older, and if recognized early enough can spare triggering a trauma response that may last a life time until recovery steps are taken.

32. . However, the study conducted by Fortier, DiLillo, Messman-Moore, Peugh DeNardi & Gaffey (2009) is particularly tuned into the theory of childhood sexual assault (CSA) and adult revictimitzation. Specifically, the CSA severity was conceptualized as leading to the use of avoidant coping, which was then thought to lead to maintenance of trauma symptoms, which in turn, impact severity of revictimization indirectly. Coping strategies of children are known to be resilient, but are not alike in all children, so the degree of the abuse and the individual child, as a victim, are extremely relevant. Fortier et al (2009) sought to prove coping strategies are amenable to change and thus represent viable targets for intervention among individuals dealing with the negative effects, such as PTSD, of abuse. Coping strategies used by individuals during childhood included attempts to stop the abuse, avoidance, psychological escape, and compensation, while adult strategies involved breaking away from the past, cognitive coping, self-discovery, and revisiting the past.

33. General psychological distress is the most commonly examined outcome of abuse found in the coping literature, followed closely by psychosocial outcomes such as PTSD, dissociation, depression, and interpersonal problems including sexual dysfunction and revictimization as discussed in the research article Psychotic Experiences in People who have been Sexually Assaulted by Kilcommons, Morrison, Knight, & Lobban (2008) which closely ties sexual assault and PTSD.

34. In conclusion, future research questions would be two-fold; one would broaden the scope of studies to include males. There are studies that acknowledge that those who have survived sexual assault, as a child will go on to become an abuser (Moore, 2006). In addition, further developing studies on children may benefit their healing process and help to avoid dysfunctional personal perceptions as they grow older, and if recognized early enough can spare triggering a trauma response that may last a life time until recovery steps are taken. However, studies relate that more men are abusers than women, therefore a hypothesis would be women will “act in” by becoming depressed and suffering from PTSD, and men will “act out” and victimize as a means to deal with their trauma which needs to be studied more fully with greater detail.

35. references Fortier, M. A., DiLillo, D., Messman-Moore, T. L., Peugh, J., DeNardi, K. A., & Gaffey, K. J. (2009). Severity of child sexual abuse and revictimization: theme-diating role of coping and trauma symptoms. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 33(3), 308-320. Doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2009.01503.x. Retrieved March 16, 2011 from: http://content.ebscohost.com.wf2dnvr11.webfeat.org/pdf23 Kilcommons, A. M., Morrison, A. P., Knight, A., & Lobban, F. (2008). Psychotic experiences in people who have been sexually assaulted. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 43(8), 602-611. doi:10.1007/s00127-007-0303-z Koenen, K., & Widom, C. (2009). A prospective study of sex differences in the lifetime risk of posttraumatic stress disorder among abused and neglected children grown up. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 22(6), 566-574. doi:10.1002/jts.20478 Moore, P. (2006). Boys who have abused: Psychoanalytic psychotherapy with victim/perpetrators of sexual abuse. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 51(13), 865-866. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Olatunji, B. O., Elwood, L. S., Williams, N. L., & Lohr, J. M. (2008). Mental pollution and PTSD symptoms in victims of sexual assault: A preliminary examination of the mediating role of trauma-related cognitions. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 22(1), 37-47. Doi:10.1891/0889.8391.22.1.37

36. Rauch, S. M., Grunfeld, T. E., Yadin, E., Cahill, S. P., Hembree, E., & Foa, E. B. (2009). Changes in reported physical health symptoms and social function with prolonged exposure therapy for chronic posttraumatic stress disorder. Depression & Anxiety (1091-4269), 26(8), 732-738. doi:10.1002/da.20518 Read, J., Os, J., Morrison, A., & Ross, C. (2005). Childhood trauma, psychosis and schizophrenia: a literature review with theoretical and clinical implications. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 112(5), 330-350. Doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.2005.00634. Sarkar, N. N., & Sarkar, R. (2005). Sexual assault on woman: Its impact on her life and living in society.Sexual & Relationship Therapy, 20(4), 407-419. Doi:10.1080/14681990500249502 Spencer, M. J., & Dunklee, P. (1986). Sexual abuse of boys. Pediatrics, 78(1), 133. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Ullman, S., Filipas, H., Townsend, S., & Starzynski, L. (2007). Psychosocial correlates of PTSD symptom severity in sexual assault survivors.Journal of Traumatic Stress, 20(5), 821-831. Doi:10.1002/jts.20290

37. Ullman, S. E., Townsend, S. M., Filipas, H. H., & Starzynski, L. L. (2007). Structural models of the relations of assault severity, social support, avoidance coping, self-blame, and PTSD among sexual assault survivors. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 31(1), 23-37 doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2007.00328.x Widom, C., Dutton, M., Czaja, S. J., & DuMont, K. A. (2005). Development and validation of a new instrument to assess lifetime trauma and victimization history.Journal of Traumatic Stress, 18(5), 519-531. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Yaeger, D., Himmelfarb, N., Cammack, A., & Mintz, J. (2006). DSM-IV Diagnosed posttraumatic stress disorder in women veterans with and without military sexual trauma.JGIM: Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21S65-S69. Doi:10.1111/j.1525-1497.2006.00377.x

38. Sexual Assault and PTSD Laura A. O’Brien Argosy University

40. It will show regardless of the age or gender of the survivor, trauma does occur.

41. The extent of this trauma, in most cases, leads to PTSD.

42. In a very few cases, rape is treated as trauma when the assault occurs.

45. Understanding leads to quicker recovery

46. Imperative to attain true diagnosis of rape survivors

47. Recognizing signs of PTSD

49. “General negative view of self, perceived permanent change, alienation from self and others, hopelessness, negative interpretation of symptoms, self-trust, self-blame, trust in other people, and [living in an] unsafe world” (Olatunji et al, 2008)

52. CSA (childhood sexual assault)conceptualized as leading to the use of avoidant coping, which was then thought to lead to maintenance of trauma symptoms, which in turn, impact severity of revictimization indirectly

54. There are more current studies concerning women and girls.

55. It is difficult to find research regarding boys, and there is far less to be found on men.

57. Further developing studies on children to facilitate their healing process

59. Olatunji, B. O., Elwood, L. S., Williams, N. L., & Lohr, J. M. (2008). Mental pollution and PTSD symptoms in victims of sexual assault: A preliminary examination of the mediating role of trauma-related cognitions. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 22(1), 37-47. Doi:10.1891/0889.8391.22.1.3 Rauch, S. M., Grunfeld, T. E., Yadin, E., Cahill, S. P., Hembree, E., & Foa, E. B. (2009). Changes in reported physical health symptoms and social function with prolonged exposure therapy for chronic posttraumatic stress disorder. Depression & Anxiety (1091-4269), 26(8), 732-738. doi:10.1002/da.2051 Read, J., Os, J., Morrison, A., & Ross, C. (2005). Childhood trauma, psychosis and schizophrenia: a literature review with theoretical and clinical implications. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 112(5), 330-350. Doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.2005.00634 Sarkar, N. N., & Sarkar, R. (2005). Sexual assault on woman: Its impact on her life and living in society.Sexual & Relationship Therapy, 20(4), 407-419. Doi:10.1080/1468199050024950 Spencer, M. J., & Dunklee, P. (1986). Sexual abuse of boys. Pediatrics, 78(1), 133. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

60. Ullman, S., Filipas, H., Townsend, S., & Starzynski, L. (2007). Psychosocial correlates of PTSD symptom severity in sexual assault survivors.Journal of Traumatic Stress, 20(5), 821-831. Doi:10.1002/jts.202 Ullman, S. E., Townsend, S. M., Filipas, H. H., & Starzynski, L. L. (2007). Structural models of the relations of assault severity, social support, avoidance coping, self-blame, and PTSD among sexual assault survivors. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 31(1), 23-37 doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2007.00328. Widom, C., Dutton, M., Czaja, S. J., & DuMont, K. A. (2005). Development and validation of a new instrument to assess lifetime trauma and victimization history.Journal of Traumatic Stress, 18(5), 519-531. Retrieved from EBSCOhost Yaeger, D., Himmelfarb, N., Cammack, A., & Mintz, J. (2006). DSM-IV Diagnosed posttraumatic stress disorder in women veterans with and without military sexual trauma.JGIM: Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21S65-S69. Doi:10.1111/j.1525-1497.2006.00377.x

61. Cultural Diversity in the Workplace Laura O’Brien Argosy University Ethics and Diversity Awareness

63. Working-age population movements

64. Racial and ethnic trends

65. Sexual-orientation trends

66. Gender trends

67. What the potential impact of the changes are on the firm

70. From 1990 to 2007, the nation's Black population increased by 27 percent, compared with 15 percent for the white population and 21 percent for the total population (American Community Survey, U.S. Census Bureau)

71. In 2007, the Black share of total buying power was 8.4 percent, up from 7.4 percent in 1990. This was expected to rise to 8.7 percent by 2012, which accounts for nine cents out of every dollar spent nationwide (Selig Center for Economic Growth).

72. About 78 percent of LGBT people and their friends and relatives would switch brands to companies that are known as being LGBT-friendly (Witeck-Combs/Harris Interactive).

73. All of The Diversity Inc Top 50 Companies for Diversity have LGBT employee-resource groups versus 30 percent five years ago (DiversityIncBestPractices.com).

74. Over a 12-year period, from 1995 to 2007, the purchasing power of people with disabilities increased by 26 percent, the equivalent of $45 billion (U.S. Census Bureau).

75. In August 2009, the unemployment rate of people with a disability was 16.9 percent, compared with 9.3 percent for people with no ADA-defined disability (Department of Labor/Bureau of Labor Statistics)

76. Six million veterans have disabilities, including loss of hearing and hypertension

77. (U.S. Census Bureau).

78. Since the Iraq/Afghanistan wars, 9,100 veterans have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries (U.S. Pentagon)

79. Between 2005 and 2016, college enrollment for U.S. Latinos is expected to increase by 45 percent, compared with 17 percent for the general population(U.S. Census Bureau).

80. Approximately 2.4 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are women, up from 0.6 percent in 2000 (Fortune).

83. The older generations bring experience and wisdom along with years of talent.

85. Racial discrimination is not only illegal, but creates negative energy rather than celebrating differences.

86. Ethnicity “refers to groups within a larger society that are distinguishable” such as religion, language, cultural values and activities.

88. It needs to be recognized that both genders have both masculine and feminine traits

89. Those that are of a different sexual orientation need to be tolerant of such differences, and not make assumptions.

91. Developing awareness of one’s own cultural assumptions, values, and biases.

92. Understanding, both cognitively and emotionally, the worldview of culturally different people.

93. Acquiring appropriate skills, intervention strategies, and techniques for working with culturally different clients.

94. Acquiring the ability to develop treatment plans based on cultural understanding (ACA, 2005).

95. Such training will help formulate cohesive and enriching experiences for all employees on a personal and work environment level

98. Integrate diversity management principles throughout the organization into all aspects of the business, including organizational structures and organizational systems

99. Focus on establishing and serving diverse market segments and a diverse customer base

100. Manage the global aspects of the business, including strategizing global positioning and geocentric attributes of operation” (Argosy, 2011).

102. Forensic Psychology The Trial of Patricia Hearst Laura O’Brien Argosy University Cognitive Abilities: Critical Thinking and Information Literacy

104. Raped or willing lover?

105. Brainwashed or acting?

106. Forced to commit crime or saving her life?

107. Traumatized or a true SLA member?

108. Video tapes & audio tapes under scrutiny

109. Body language during trial suspicious

110. Pleading 5th for 52 questions(Linder, 2007)

112. **no prior violent rebelliousness

113. **happily engaged to be married & settling into adulthood

114. **a “young woman of society” known to not care for “hippies”

115. Kidnapped in hostile take over while fiance was brutally beaten

116. Held hostage in a closet for 52 days

117. Repeatedly raped

118. Constant verbal assault and abuse(Ramsland, 2011)

120. Mental health specialists who have studied survivors of war, particularly, POW’s

121. Those that have been forced to comply or die

123. Video footage of bank robbery

124. Convincing audio messages to her parents denouncing her name, and stating her new political agenda

125. Assisting in a robbery while in a van, shooting a gun, nearly killing the store owner to save her “comrades”

126. Declaring she loved Wolfe, the man who repeatedly raped her, in other statements

127. Exercising her right to remain silent during testimony not shedding further light on to her case to help her cause.(Ramsland, 2011)

128. Incriminating evidence?Image 1: Patricia Hearst posed with a gun in front of the SLA symbolImage 2: Taken during the Hibernia Bank robbery, where she shouts she is “Tania” Images courtesy of: www.famouspictures.org/ mag/images/0/02/PattyHearst

130. Bankers

131. Police officers, law enforcement

133. Forensic Psychologists “possess invaluable information about expert testimony” (Argosy University, 2011).

134. Forensic Psychologist and Behavioral Analysts will/can administer extensive testing to narrow down and eliminate those that may have unknowing prejudices, or ones that they are trying to hide. Some tests can have 100’s of questions.

136. Applied Psychology Physiological Psychology Laura O’Brien Argosy University

137. Scenario Sally is a 33-year old European American woman who says that she has been depressed and anxious since her adolescence. During the intake, you ask if she experienced any depression or anxiety prior to her adolescence, and she says she doesn't know because she has almost no memory of her childhood prior to age 13. She has taken a variety of antidepressants including Tricyclics, SSRIs, Welbutrin, and Effexor; however, none of these have helped much. She has refused psychotherapy in the past, saying she doesn't want to think about things that have happened to her. She reports having frequent nightmares but refuses to elaborate further. She gets startled easily and has many fears. As she experiences increasing suicidal ideation, she is entering the hospital to participate in the therapeutic milieu. You refer her to a psychologist for her inpatient stay, again suggesting that this kind of service might be helpful to her. Later the psychologist who is treating her discusses her case in a hospital staffing. You are invited to attend her staffing as a member of her treatment team. When she came into the hospital, she signed an informed consent agreement that explained that hospital employees that were involved with her care would be discussing her progress. The psychologist explains that Sally has disclosed to him a history of sadistic child abuse along with the experience of losing time and significant memory loss. Because you are a trainee, the psychologist is also interested in asking your opinions about this case. The psychologist asks you to explain:

138. 1.What might be the cause of her memory problems? It is quite possible, and probable, to believe that Sally has suppressed memories that were too difficult for her to emotionally handle at the time they were happening. Many survivors of violence or traumatic experiences suffer from PTSD, or post-traumatic stress syndrome. A natural protection, or defense, that the mind has created for Sally has been for her to not remember horrible events until she is ready to do so. This self-preservation is called disassociation. AACAP (2009) states: “child with PTSD may also re-experience the traumatic event by: having frequent memories of the event, or in young children, play in which some or all of the trauma is repeated over and over having upsetting and frightening dreams acting or feeling like the experience is happening again developing repeated physical or emotional symptoms when the child is reminded of the event”

139. 2. Why have the antidepressants not helped her much? In Sally’s case, the root of her problem has not been addressed. She doesn’t have a chemical imbalance causing her to be depressed, but rather, she has terrible issues that she must deal with for the depression to recede. What Sally needed when she was younger was to be able to feel safe and be in a supportive environment allowing her to cope with her trauma.

140. Your supervisor asked you to review the work that you have done thus far as trainee for the patient education program of the neurology, psychiatry, and neurosurgery service. She asks you to address the following issues:

141. 4.Explain to what degree sensitivity to diversity is an ethical issue. In order to properly help a person, one must be sensitive to differences and be versed in diverse backgrounds. Unintentionally hurting someone due to ignorance could cause further damage, or trauma to that person. In Sally’s case, understanding that she is suffering from PTSD, and not further traumatizing her would be imperative as she needs most of all to feel safe and a sense of nurturing as well as control.

142. 5. Explain your understanding of informed consent and why it is important for the patients to fill out this form. It is imperative that each person understands his or her rights as a patient. They need to understand that everything is confidential between the therapist and client unless the client is threatening to hurt another person or themselves. In this case, Sally is suicidal and is formulating plans of how to commit suicide, so she needs to understand that as a therapist, in order to save her life, confidentiality will be broken.

143. 6. Analyze the patient confidentiality associated with medical care. Since Sally has signed a consent form that allows hospital staff working on her case to discuss the case amongst themselves, then this team is behaving in an ethical manner with Sally’s best interest in mind. Horn (2009), feels that the updated DSM-V, with updated ethics and confidentiality rules, will allow professionals to collaborate and help guide one another for proper treatment of a patient.

144. 7.Assess the circumstances under which you can release information about hospital patients to someone else. As stated above, it is unethical to disclose any information given by a patient to anyone. The only time, with the consent form signed, it is ethical to release information is if the patient is hurting another, is threatening to hurt another person, or is suicidal. Again, Sally has authorized the hospital staff to have conferences regarding her case. She has ultimately given them permission to disclose her private sessions with others that are directly working on her case.

145. References AACAP, American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry (2009): Facts for Families: PTSD. Article retrieved June 28, 2010 from: http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/posttraumatic_stress_disorder_ptsd Horn, P. (2009); Psychiatric Ethics Consultation in the Light of DSM-V. Volume 20, Number 4 / December, 2008. DOI 10.1007/s10730-008-9082-5. Article retrieved June 28, 2010 from: http://www.springerlink.com/content/33711gu476284h34/

146. My Future in Learning Learning is a lifelong process. It is a process that I completely embrace. Early childhood lessons gave me the fortitude I would need later in life when faced with other challenges. Adding to life’s personal experiences, I have a history of various jobs beginning with babysitting and paper routes, the banking industry, restaurants, customer service, and ultimately working with children and trauma survivors. The next chapters in my life have brought me singing and dancing on stage. As well, they have brought me back to scholarly learning and being able to pour my personal experiences into academics. I find this to be a true treasure. At present, I am completing my BA in Psychology, but I will not stop with this degree. As I intend to continue learning new music and dance steps, I will continue my education in life and academics. I have plans to begin a Master’s program in the fall. The future is filled with hope and things yet to be discovered and discussed. I feel very fortunate!

147. Contact Me Thank you for viewing my ePortfolio. For further information, please contact me at the e-mail address below. lauraob.isdunn@yahoo.com