Discourses of Psychological Trauma

This book offers a critical perspective of the dominant discourses within the field of psychological trauma. It provides a challenge to normative western constructs and unsettles assumptions about accepted notions of universality and the nature of trauma. Traditionally the concept of psychological trauma has been widely accepted within mental health professions. However, in a post-positivist era, the language of mental health is shifting and making room for alternative discourses that include wider contextual influences, such as the impact of sociological, cultural, and technological developments. These wider discourses are illuminated as the authors draw together some of these arguments into one accessible text. Rather than claim definitive answers to the issues raised, readers are invited to engage with the discussions presented in order to position themselves in relation to the range of trauma discourses available. 

Nikki Kiyimba is Chartered Clinical Psychologist, Researcher and Academic. She is a Senior Educator and Programme Lead for postgraduate programmes in Professional Practice, Leadership and Responding to Trauma at Bethlehem Tertiary Institute, NZ.

Christina Buxton is Chartered Academic Psychologist and practitioner in the field of Psychological Trauma, and lead for the DProf Psychological Trauma and DProf Counselling and Psychotherapy at the University of Chester, UK. 

Emily Pathe is Chartered Counselling Psychologist and Digital Co-ordinator of Adult Mental Health with the National Health Service in Lanarkshire, Scotland. Emily is occasional lecturer with Glasgow Caledonian University and Chair of Division of Counselling Psychology, Scotland, UK.


Jo Shuttleworth is Chartered Counselling Psychologist and Academic and Lecturer in Counselling Psychology at the University of Manchester, UK. Her clinical areas of specialisation are in complex trauma and gender-based violence