What counselling framework is used by Yarrow Place counsellors?
The broad framework for counselling at Yarrow Place is provided in Judith Herman’s book “Trauma and Recovery”. According to Herman recovery from trauma develops in 3 stages: 1) Safety, 2) Remembrance and Mourning and 3) Reconnection. These stages provide more of a conceptual understanding of the main themes in healing, an attempt to bring understanding into the complexity of trauma responses and subsequent healing. Healing does not naturally progress from stage to stage. Even though one stage may be more prominent at certain times, there will always be aspects of the other stages present. Herman emphasises the importance of the client-counsellor relationship. She understands the core experiences of psychological trauma as disempowerment and disconnection from others. Recovery requires the empowerment of the survivor and the creation of new connections and this is only possible within the context of relationships (2001, p.133). For Herman, a crucial tenet of this relationship is the ide
