School of Design, Engineering & Computing

Professor sees his third book published

22 March 2010

Cover of the book 'Understanding Trauma: How to overcome post-traumatic stress' by Roger Baker

A Bournemouth University (BU) academic who dedicated ten years of his life to analysing and recording emotional displays in a series of diaries, has now published his third book in the field of clinical psychology.

Professor Baker, who has a solid 40-year background in both research and clinical practice, presents the concept of Post Traumatic Stress in his latest publication, offering readers a comprehensive explanation of the issue and the potential treatment options available to them.

‘Understanding Trauma – How to Overcome Post Traumatic Stress’ is based on the hundreds of patients Professor Baker has treated over his long standing history in clinical psychology, as well as key research within the field. The book offers a collection of case studies and theories behind post traumatic stress disorder, how it affects people’s lives and management techniques as part of the treatment process.

Professor Baker’s interest in the subject of post traumatic stress first developed through his work with patients suffering from panic attacks. He noticed unusual behaviour emanating from these patients who talked about their emotions more as enemies than friends, prompting further investigation into emotional processing. His research in this area became his seminal work, building on the original theory of emotional processing introduced by Jack Rachman in 1980. Rachman describes emotional processing as the way in which an individual processes stressful life events, defining it as “a process whereby emotional disturbances are absorbed and decline to the extent that other experiences and behaviour can proceed without disruption”.

Professor Baker extended Rachman’s theory by developing a comprehensive diagnostic measurement scale for emotionally-associated mental health issues. The “Emotional Processing Scale” has since been widely adopted amongst psychology practitioners and, following the success of his initial text covering panic attacks, formed the basis of his second psychological book.

‘Understanding Trauma’, the third book in the series, uses emotional processing therapy to help readers understand and manage their post traumatic stress disorder, defined by Professor Baker as “A severe psychological disorder whereby a memory of previous traumatic experiences has not been properly emotionally processed, leading to a variety of often physical effects”. Sufferers can experience a range of ‘effects’ or symptoms, ranging from reliving the trauma through nightmares and flashbacks, to a constant state of high arousal where people struggle to concentrate or suffer memory problems.

With one in ten British people suffering from post traumatic stress disorder at some point in their lives, advice, information and treatment solutions are becoming considerably more valuable. Adapting the principles of prolonged exposure, ‘Understanding Trauma’ applies emotional processing therapy as a treatment by retrieving emotionally charged unprocessed memories of negative events and slowly learning to express emotion relating to this, dealing with any issues surrounding the memory to encourage healthier processing in the future.

Having had an initial print run of four thousand copies commissioned, ‘Understanding Trauma’ is set to become as popular as its predecessors in the clinical psychology field.