Trauma Survivor’s Inner Role Atom

A Clinical Map for Posttraumatic Growth

Abstract

The treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder and other trauma-related maladies requires

psychotherapists to be equipped with a dependable clinical map that can guide them

through the difficulties of trauma therapy. The Therapeutic Spiral Model—a clinically

sophisticated and research-supported adaptation of classical psychodrama that has been

used in over 30 countries—comes equipped with a comprehensive clinical map called the

Trauma Survivor’s Inner Role Atom (TSIRA), which emphasizes safety, containment, and

strengths. The Trauma Survivor’s Inner Role Atom provides a guide to intrapsychic structural

change conceptualized in the simplicity of role theory while drawing from continued

developments in neuroscience research. It offers a triune map beginning with prescriptive

roles to build strengths, connection, accurate observation, containment, and safety. The

trauma roles offered by the model’s intrapsychic trauma triangle are explored only after the

prescriptive roles have been established, with the clinical functions of each demonstrated.

And finally, the transformative roles—the internal manifestation of posttraumatic growth—

emerge and are integrated as a completion of the clinical map’s three spirals. The

implementation of this inner role atom as a clinical map prevents retraumatization while

providing emotional regulation to protagonists and the group, keeping them within their

window of tolerance.