Sociometric Assessment

Variation of Relational Trauma Repair Symptom Floor Check

Abstract

The Symptom Floor Check is an exercise developed by Tian Dayton, creator of the Relational Trauma Repair Model. In her Therapist's Guide, Relational Trauma Repair (RTR): An Experiential Model for Working with PTSD Psycho Social Metrics (2014, pp. 47–49) she lays out the goals and steps involved in carrying out a given process as well as variations of the exercise. In this article I will share an additional variation I have used with success in residential treatment and private practice for diagnostic and assessment purposes.

The original Symptom Floor Check is an experiential, psycho-educational group process that offers clients the experience of partnering with the therapist in identifying maladaptive behaviors and patterns and assessing the impact and consequences. The process itself involves a series of choice points that allow clients to self-select as to symptoms, thus creating a fluid flow of sociometrically aligned groupings (e.g., dyads and clusters). Initially the...