Meditation and Treatment of Female Trauma Survivors of Interpersonal Abuses: Utilizing Clients’ Strengths

Clinical challenges encountered by trauma survivors revolve primarily around (a) recognizing and differentiating current emotional experiences and physical cues from trauma-based responses and (b) learning how to regulate emotions and behaviors that allow beneficial fulfillment of needs and goals as defined by current life context and not past trauma. Meditation provides a different and complementary “technology” for conceptualizing and providing treatment to trauma survivors. By training clients to attend to the present, enhancing their ability to stay physiologically calm, and increasing positive emotions, meditation practice allows clients to manifest their internal resources to address the problems of trauma. This article discusses meditation practice for treating trauma survivors and describes the meditation experience of two clients to illustrate the potential benefits of meditation in their recovery process.