ABSTRACT
An example may be helpful in illustrating the ripple effect of change within the family. If an inner-city family living in an economically deprived neighborhood suffers the trauma of their 17-year-old son dying in a shooting on his way to school, his 13-year-old sister may soon develop separation anxiety and refuse to leave the house, even to go to school. It would be logical to assume that the younger sister fears leaving her house and going to school because of the murder of her brother while he was on his way to school. By asking relational questions, however, it is learned that while those fears are part of the explanation of her symptoms, it is only part of the story. It soon becomes apparent by pursuing the trauma effects on different family members, that the daughter’s main worry is about her mother who has been clinically depressed since her brother’s death. She is afraid to leave her mother alone in the house. Further exploration leads to the revelation that her worst fear is that her mother might commit suicide if she were left alone. If the daughter’s symptoms had been viewed simply as part of a posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) without the relational component the main underpinning to her fears would not have been addressed.
