Every day we are faced with different types of interpersonal situations which require different types of communication.
Successful social functioning requires people to have multiple potential schemas at their disposal. Different actions and reactions are required in different relationships depending on their history and context.
Explain to your clients that the main aim of this session is to help them identify and practice effective and respectful ways of communicating that differ depending on the nature of the relationship. The session work will focus on relationships that differ in their power balance. This dimension of relationships is generally a sensitive topic but can be especially challenging for trauma clients.
Your trauma clients may report distress and uncertainty in managing the power dynamics of relationships. Some clients who have experienced interpersonal violence tend to equate power with abuse and disregard for the needs and rights of others. They may feel uncomfortable in situations requiring that they exert power, share power or respond effectively to others that have more power than they do.
In addition, trauma survivors can engage in rigid “all or nothing” thinking about power and assume there are only two options in a relationship: either to be very powerful, controlling and “in charge” or alternatively to be powerless and feel required go along with everything that others demand of them.
