title: Shared traumatic reality in communal disasters: toward a conceptualization.
abstract: The phenomenon variously termed "shared reality," "shared trauma," or "shared traumatic reality" refers to situations in which helper and helpee, psychotherapist and client, are exposed to the same communal disaster. This article has two aims. One, pursued in the first part of the article, is to trace the development of the concept; analyze the conditions under which it was acknowledged, articulated, and labeled; and review the changes in the term over time. The other, pursued in the second part, is to offer a conceptualization of the phenomenon based on analysis of the literature. Here, the article shows that the phenomenon is characterized by two distinct dynamics, one pertaining to professionals providing help in the emergency phase, the other to professionals conducting ongoing psychotherapy; to offer a preliminary definition of the phenomenon which covers the shared features of the two dynamics; and to present the distinct features of each.
authors.affiliation: Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel. nehami@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Nehami
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Baum
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003419:Crisis Intervention; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D004190:Disasters; D005086:Existentialism; D006801:Humans; D007062:Identification, Psychological; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008016:Life Change Events; D010550:Personal Space; D024382:Professional Role / Q000523:psychology*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy; D012929:Psychological Distance; D011613:Psychotherapy; D011936:Reality Testing; D012380:Role; D012650:Self Disclosure; D012931:Social Environment; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*