Paul Valent

Paul Valent

MBBS, DPM, FRANZCP
Consultant liaison psychiatrist, psychotherapist, traumatologist,
Co-founder and past president Australasian Society for Traumatic Stress Studies,
Writer.

Trauma and Fulfillment Therapy; The Wholist Framework. Philadelphia: Brunner/Mazel

This book follows logically from Survival to Fulfillment, in its practical applicability to diagnose and repair tears in the human fabric. Dr. Valent reviews the variety of treatments applied over the last century, from Freud and Janet to the current use of drugs, debriefing, EMDR, psychodynamic therapy, and cognitive behaviour therapy. Using his wholist perspective, Dr Valent puts them in perspective,  finds their common ingredients, and develops basic principles of trauma therapy.

Through 40 clinical cases, Dr Valent describes the techniques and efficacy of trauma therapy in various phases of trauma- from the time of its occurrence to its pervasiveness of the person years later.
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Publication Author: Paul Valent Publication Date: 3rd December 1998 Categories: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Disasters & Wars

Coping With a Major Personal Crisis (Pamphlet)

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Editions of this pamphlet have been used in Australian and overseas disasters over the last 30 years. The information in the pamphlet describes frequent emotional, cognitive, social, and physical responses, their causes, and what to do about them. Survivors are often reassured by the pamphlet that they are not crazy or unique.

There is no copyright on the pamphlet, but if used, acknowledgements would be appreciated.

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A meeting of the minds needed for warnings to work. The Age. Opinion 6th Aug 2009

Warnings about imminent disasters have to be tailored appropriately to penetrate denial, desire for constancy, and magical thinking. The piece considers how warnings should be issued.
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Publication Author: Paul Valent Publication Date: 6th Aug 2009 Categories:

Disaster syndrome in Encyclopedia of Stress. Ed. George Fink. New York: Academic Press

Disaster syndrome is the forgotten opposite of fight and flight. It has been known as psychic shock, General Adaptation Syndrome, and Conservation-Withdrawal syndrome. It underlies the survival strategy adaptation or goal surrender. The syndrome is examined in all its aspects and ramifications.
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Publication Author: Paul Valent Publication Date: 2000 Categories: , , ,

The Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria. Med J Aust 141:291-300

Consequences in survivors of the horrific Ash Wednesday bushfires are described according to physical, psychological (perceptual and emotional), and social manifestations in different phases of the disaster on individuals, familes, children, and communities. Evolution of various symptoms and illnesses is described. The usefulness of various interventions is described. The secondary effect on helpers is noted.
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Publication Author: Paul Valent Publication Date: 1984 Categories:

Bushfire reflections. . Stress Points; Newsletter for the Australasian Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. pp 7-8

Twenty years after the Ash Wednesday bushfires, with  bushfires raging again in Victoria, I note that traumatology has come a long way. First, it has become an organised discipline. Next, disaster interventions have been well formulated in pamphlets and Emergency Management Australia manuals. Lastly, trauma conceptualisations have been evolving.
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Publication Author: Paul Valent Publication Date: Nov 2002 Categories:

A conceptual framework for understanding the impact of disasters. The Australian Clinical Psychologist. 15:12-18

The 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria, Australia, were seminal in my traumatology learning. This paper describes the need to be cognisant of physical, psychological (cognitive, defensive, and emotional), and social consequences. The need is illustrated with clinical examples.
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Publication Author: Paul Valent Publication Date: 1983 Categories:

Survivor guilt. in Encyclopedia of Stress. Ed. George Fink. New York: Academic Press

Survivor guilt was first described in Holocaust survivors, but it applies to all traumatic situations. Its physical, psychological and social aspects are described. Reasons for its existence are noted, as well as steps in its healing.
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Publication Author: Paul Valent Publication Date: 2000 Categories: ,

Beyond Belief: a human strategy for survival. The Age Op-Ed p 11

Where was God during the tsunami? Where is God in Darfur? Where was God in Rwanda? Cambodia? The Holocaust? A divergence of desire and fact arises during and after disasters. Religion may offer comfort, such as the belief that the dead are in heaven. Trauma therapy facilitates grief and heals false beliefs such as that one caused the deaths of others (survivor guilt).

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Publication Author: Paul Valent Publication Date: 4th Jan 2005 Categories: ,

Clinical Observations of Causers and Victims of Motor Vehicle Incidents: Brief Report

Motor vehicle incidents (MVI’ s) cause more death and injury than wars, acts of terrorism, and disasters put together. Their major cause is ‘human error’. The posttraumatic effects on victims of such errors have been well researched, but causers of such errors have not. The hypotheses of this study were that victims and causers of MVI’s could be clinically distinguished, and that such distinctions might be useful in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of MVI’s. The results indicated two victim and two causer categories. The victim group contained Post traumatic Stress and Vulnerable sub groups. The causer group contained Antisocial and Process ‘Neurotic’ sub groups. Examples are provided of each subgroup. Clinical distinctions between victims and causer groups and subgroups can help to understand the variety of post – MVI ‘comorbid’ symptoms, and help to achieve more sophisticated approaches to MVI diagnosis, treatment and prevention.
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Publication Author: Paul Valent Publication Date: 2007 Categories: ,

Emergency Management Australia. Disasters. Guidelines for Psychological Service Practice; Emergency Managers Guide (for disasters). Emergency Management Australia. 2003 Hard copy available from Emergency Management Australia

This is a definitive guide to managers of psychological services in disasters in Australia, published by Emergency Management Australia.  It utilises the wholist perspective, that is, a three-dimensional approach to disasters (including management in different phases of disasters for individuals, families, and communities, children and adults, etc). It also utilises survival strategy concepts (see table).
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Publication Author: Paul Valent (contributor) Publication Date: 2003 Categories:

Emergency Management Australia. Disasters. Guidelines for Psychological Service Practice; Mental Health Practitioners Guide (for disasters). Emergency Management Australia. 2003. Hard copy available from Emergency Management Australia

This is a definitive guide to psychological service providers in disasters in Australia, published by Emergency Management Australia.  It utilises the wholist perspective, that is, a three-dimensional approach to disasters (including management in different phases of disasters for individuals, families, and communities, children and adults, etc). It also utilises survival strategy concepts (see table).
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Publication Author: Paul Valent (contributor) Publication Date: 2003 Categories:

The human costs to staff from closure of a general hospital: an example of the effects of the threat of unemployment and fragmentation of a valued work structure. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 35:150-154

The closure of a major public hospital had significant effects on the medical and other staff. Special stressors were the perceived meaninglessness of the project alongside erosion of medical values. Demoralisation and physical and psychosocial symptoms were surprisingly numerous and significant.
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Publication Author: Paul Valent Publication Date: 2001 Categories: , , ,

Trauma and Fulfillment Therapy; The Wholist Framework. Philadelphia: Brunner/Mazel

This book follows logically from Survival to Fulfillment, in its practical applicability to diagnose and repair tears in the human fabric. Dr. Valent reviews the variety of treatments applied over the last century, from Freud and Janet to the current use of drugs, debriefing, EMDR, psychodynamic therapy, and cognitive behaviour therapy. Using his wholist perspective, Dr Valent puts them in perspective,  finds their common ingredients, and develops basic principles of trauma therapy.

Through 40 clinical cases, Dr Valent describes the techniques and efficacy of trauma therapy in various phases of trauma- from the time of its occurrence to its pervasiveness of the person years later.
Book: View Book

Publication Author: Paul Valent Publication Date: 3rd December 1998 Categories: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Compassion fatigue

The experience of a mental health team involved in the early phase of a disaster. Aust and NZ J Psychiatry 18:354-358

The reactions of a volunteer mental health team which convened in the aftermath of the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfire are reported. A questionnaire designed to explore psychological and physical responses was completed by the 19 staff who made up the team. Using both open-ended and closed questions, the questionnaire tapped such areas as motivation, goals, expectations and observations, initial and later emotional and physical reactions, fantasies and evoked memories; Analysis of responses indicated that team members experiences considerable stress during their post-disaster work but also gained a great deal at both professional and personal levels. Sources of stress are discussed as are recommendations for their alleviation.
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Publication Author: Paul Valent Publication Date: 1984 Categories:

The human costs to staff from closure of a general hospital: an example of the effects of the threat of unemployment and fragmentation of a valued work structure. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 35:150-154

The closure of a major public hospital had significant effects on the medical and other staff. Special stressors were the perceived meaninglessness of the project alongside erosion of medical values. Demoralisation and physical and psychosocial symptoms were surprisingly numerous and significant.
Downlaod: View Document

Publication Author: Paul Valent Publication Date: 2001 Categories: , , ,

Diagnosis and treatment of helper stresses, traumas, and illnesses. In C Figley (Ed.). Treating Compassion Fatigue

Compassion strain, compassion fatigue, secondary post-traunatic stress and secondary PTSD are defined among the wide range of helper symptoms. Symptoms are as wide ranging as those of survivors, and this is understandable as helpers reverberate and identify with survivors and attempt to complement their unsuccessful survival strategies. Helper stresses, traumas and illnesses are as well as treatment are conceptualised and placed in a coherent order.
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Publication Author: Paiul Valent Publication Date: 2002 Categories:

Survival Strategies: A framework for understanding secondary traumatic stress and coping in helpers. In C Figley (Ed.) Compassion fatigue: Coping with Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder in Those Who Treat the Traumatized

In order to understand the secondary traumatic stress (STS) reactions of those who deal with traumatized people, it is necessary to understand the responses of the primary victims, because it is the primary victims’ responses the evoke the secondary responses. This chapter explores which specific responses arise in which situations, as well as their secondary effects and their means of transmission.
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Publication Author: Paul Valent Publication Date: 1995 Categories:

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