Traumatic events and sense-making: mobilization of meta-emotional processes

Introduction

Analysis of the post-immediate phase of a traumatic event (between 3- and 30-days post-event) is crucial to understanding the mechanisms of chronic development of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It has been established that emotional processes are involved from the peritraumatic phase onwards. However, we still have little information about the emotional experience in the post-immediate phase.

Objective

The aim of this study is to explore the experiences of people who have been victims, witnesses or indirect witnesses of a traumatic event, in order to shed light on the traumatic experience, the impact on their emotions and meta-emotions engaged during this temporary period and the identification of new therapeutic interventions.

Method

Eight participants, patients of the CUMP-13, agreed to be recorded during the initial recounting of the event of which they were victims. The discourse was analyzed according to the guidelines of grounded theory and using QDA Miner version 6 software.

Results

A total of 4 themes and 11 sub-themes were identified, including cognitive impact, emotional repercussions, coping strategies and per traumatic contexts.

Conclusion

The results were interpreted and discussed in terms of clinical impact, and new therapeutic approaches were proposed: identification and analysis of the meta-emotion, deconstruction of dysfunctional beliefs and peritraumatic dissociation at the origin of the cognitive conflict.