The Body Remembers: Healing from Generational Trauma Amidst Systemic Oppression-DTD Handout

DTD Handout

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The document outlines the criteria for diagnosing Developmental Trauma Disorder (DTD), a condition resulting from chronic exposure to significant trauma during formative years, impacting emotional and psychological development. It provides a comprehensive list of symptoms and diagnostic criteria, segmented into three main domains with specific required criteria for a DTD diagnosis.

<strong>A. Lifetime Contemporaneous Exposure to Developmental Trauma:</strong>
1. <strong>Attachment Disruption:</strong> Involves compromised caregiving systems due to factors such as neglect, prolonged separation, or abuse, often coupled with interpersonal victimization through physical or sexual abuse or domestic violence.

<strong>B. Affective and Somatic Dysregulation:</strong>
Requires three out of four symptoms.  
1. <strong>Emotion Dysregulation:</strong> Difficulty in managing intolerable negative emotional states or recovering from them.
2. <strong>Somatic Dysregulation:</strong> Includes aversions to touch or sounds, or unexplained somatic distress/illness.
3. <strong>Dissociation:</strong> Difficulty in recognizing or feeling emotions and bodily signals.
4. <strong>Alexithymia:</strong> Challenges in describing emotions or bodily states.

<strong>C. Attentional and Behavioral Dysregulation:</strong>
Requires two out of five symptoms.  
1. <strong>Attention Bias:</strong> Focus on or avoidance of threats and hyper/hypo-vigilance.
2. <strong>Self-Protection Impairment:</strong> Involves risk-taking behaviors or provoking conflicts.
3. <strong>Maladaptive Self-Soothing:</strong> Reliance on harmful behaviors for comfort.
4. <strong>Self-Harm:</strong> Engaging in non-suicidal self-injury.
5. <strong>Goal-Directed Behavior Issues:</strong> Difficulty initiating or sustaining actions towards goals.

<strong>D. Self and Relational Dysregulation:</strong>
Requires two out of six symptoms.  
1. <strong>Negative Self-Perception:</strong> Feeling self-loathing or viewing oneself as defective.
2. <strong>Attachment Insecurity:</strong> Over-protectiveness or difficulty after separation.
3. <strong>Distrust in Relationships:</strong> Constant expectation of betrayal or defiance.
4. <strong>Aggression:</strong> Reactive aggression either physical or verbal.
5. <strong>Boundary Deficits:</strong> Inappropriate intimate contact or over-reliance on others.
6. <strong>Empathic Regulation Issues:</strong> Problems with empathy or excessive responsiveness to others’ distress.

This detailed framework aids in identifying and diagnosing DTD, contributing to better therapeutic approaches.

Keywords

Developmental Trauma Disorder

diagnostic criteria

emotional development

psychological development

attachment disruption

affective dysregulation

somatic dysregulation

attentional dysregulation

behavioral dysregulation

self and relational dysregulation