Setting up a Trauma Recovery Clinic: Addressing a Critical Need in India

Psychological trauma is an emotional reaction to an overwhelming adverse event and the degree of vulnerability to trauma differs across individuals. Symptoms of psychological trauma may involve physical, cognitive, emotional, social/interpersonal and/or behavioural manifestations that may be acute or chronic. Exposure to traumatic events predisposes individuals to develop diverse forms of psychopathology and recovery from psychological trauma encompasses not just symptom recovery but also a process of deeper personal recovery and restoration. Awareness about psychological trauma and interventions for trauma reactions requires specialized clinics to ensure appropriate and effective trauma-informed care. The paper describes the setting up of such a clinic-the ‘Trauma Recovery Clinic ’at the NIMHANS Centre for Well-Being in Bangalore. The objectives, services and activities of the clinic are enumerated.