Trauma: A Unifying Concept for Social Work

The aim is to show how traumatic stress provides a unifying concept for social work. In the last ten years, there have been significant changes in the nature of organisations that provide social care for people in the UK, with social work practice no longer confined to traditional local authority services. Increasingly, social workers are taking up posts in a variety of settings and sectors demanding new knowledge and skills. The field of traumatic stress is not currently viewed as a social work discipline. However, trauma cuts across a range of contexts and client groups and, as such, needs to be a core component of education and training in social work. The concept of trauma and recent developments in post-traumatic growth offer a new way of thinking that necessitates the development of genuinely psycho-social and relationship-based help and support for individuals, families, groups, communities and organisations affected by adversity.