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Resilience and Vulnerability to Trauma 3612003). Heinrichs and colleagues also found that stress-related release of oxytocinreduces secretion of ACTH, corticosterone, and catecholamines in rats and isthought to reduce HPA axis overactivity in women. Thus, social support and positivesocial interaction are psychologically and neurobiologically relevant to theresilience paradigm.Resilience InterventionsClinical intervention with survivors of trauma is a challenging endeavor, andvarious modalities of treatment are being explored in the field. Today, there is nosingle treatment identified as the optimal intervention for trauma survivors (or forindividuals with a PTSD diagnosis), and in some cases a combination of differenttreatment modalities may provide the most symptom relief and improvement inpsychological functioning. These approaches focus both on recovery in the aftermathof trauma, and resilience to future adverse events. The following section willbriefly illustrate the state-of-science in treating trauma survivors.In addition to identifying and bolstering the psychosocial factors described inearlier sections, a skilled clinician can facilitate a trauma survivor’s recoverythrough careful intervention. Trauma expert Judith Herman, in Trauma and Recovery(1997), describes a three-phase model of recovery after trauma; this modelserves as a good conceptual framework for thinking about the treatment of traumasurvivors in any modality. The phases do not necessarily progress in a linear fashionand the process can be facilitated by a mental health professional in a variety ofsettings.Establishing safety is the first phase; a trauma survivor, having lost a sense ofsafety and trust in the world must feel safe in the therapeutic setting in order tobegin to recover. Telling the trauma story within the context of a safe environmentis the second phase. Here, the survivor tells and retells the trauma story,consolidating memory and making meaning of the events; this phase is akin tothe exposure element of other treatment approaches. Those who bear witness tothe retelling (e.g., therapist, group members, peers) must work continually to providea safe and supportive environment. The third phase is about connection andreconnection; the survivor begins to rebuild meaningful connections with individualsand the community that have been strained or lost in the aftermath oftrauma. The survivor may also begin to establish new connections and to test andmodify the boundaries of existing relationships, as well as work toward reconnectingwith parts of him/herself that may have been fragmented due to trauma.The ultimate goal of this model is to help the survivor move from helplessnessand shame to empowerment and personal agency.Although most clinicians treating trauma survivors use psychodynamic or supportivetherapies, there are no outcome data for these modalities (reviewed by