Reviewer-1 Comments
1. p. 4: “Review literature on multicultural competency/social justice theories.”
We agree and have included three sources to the manuscript: Sue et al. (2022), which is considered a classic in multicultural psychology via diverse, cultural groups and posits cultural currency for psychotherapy when cultural competence is present. We also have included Tatum (2017) which focuses on social justice issues, and the classic paper by Crenshaw (1989) on intersectionality of identities.
Response: We have added statements to the manuscript such as:
This is essential because a person’s cultural background may be a strength in their journey to transcending trauma. p.4 [reviewer’s copy] changed to
According to Sue et al. (2022), this is especially true when we lack cultural humility to acknowledge issues of multicultural competence—costumes, language, values, world views and the intersectionality of issues of social justice which include historical oppression, discrimination, racism, sexism, and many other -isms. p.6
As well additional language to this effect later in p15.
One example is the amply demonstrated racial trauma that African Americans have suffered in American society, which according to Tatum (2017) is manifested in through hurtful statements such as, why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria? to endemic issues of exclusion in housing and employment, to police excessive use of force against this community, all leaving enduring trauma. p.15
2. p.5 “Perhaps instead of validity, use “cultural competence.”
Response: We agree and have made the changes throughout the manuscript.
3. p.8 “Expand more on PhD versus PsyD issue/question.”
Response: We agree and have replaced the sentence,
While (inductive) skills derived from practice and experience for PsyDs may be shown to be effective, it should be noted that it needs to be an evidence-based [deductive] conclusion rather than political
With,
While (inductive) skills derived from practice and experience for PsyDs may be shown to be effective, qualitatively measuring these effects is not always done, and at times when it is done, the qualitative methodology—such as action research which investigates the issue as it is solved—is not acknowledged to have the same scientific rigor as evidence-based [deductive], experimental conclusions required of PhD programs. p.9
4. p.13 “Should you add some information on collective trauma in reference to the statements above concerning communities?”
Response: We agree with this comment and have added another paragraph to specify how collective trauma and multicultural/social justice issues play a role. The inserted paragraph is
“As the above publication notes [SAMHSA], a trauma-informed approach requires acknowledging collective trauma imposed not only on individuals, but families, and communities …” p.14-15
Importantly, in this paragraph we highlight the role of collective trauma, which we define as historical trauma to a community of individuals sharing stigmatized identities and how that trauma is relived. This is the social justice issue the reviewer mentioned.
5. p.13 “Trauma-informed”
Response: we have added he hyphen throughout.
Reviewer-2 Comments
1. It was able to understand that this is an important study that summarizes the role of trauma therapy and the significance of intervention. I will comment on the points I noticed below, so please consider correcting them as much as possible.
Response: The reviewer captured the essence of our manuscript, and the comments are constructive and encouraging for our revision.
2. Title It seems that the title and research content do not match.
Response: We agree and have changed the title from
Trauma Transcendence Process/Progress: Roles of Person Construal and Social Context
to
Transcending Trauma: Treatments’ Caveats, Construal, and Cultural-Context
We believe the second title captures the essence that transcending trauma requires that we consider caveats or limitations of research outcomes, how people see/perceive treatment/therapy (construal), and how the identity of individuals needs to be considered (culture-context).
3. P2 L6 ”our review”
This study is positioned as a literature review. Demonstrating the review process is helpful for juniors. Please indicate the search keywords, trends in the number of documents, etc.
Response: This reviewer captured an important point in our paper which needs clarification and necessitates we calibrate our language to reflect our approach. Briefly, our paper is more than a review, as it is an analysis of theory, and methodological clarification. We believe we can fix this by changing the phrase
Our review of literature focused on (a) … [abstract] to
Our methodological analysis and theoretical discussion of extant research evidence focused on (a) … [italics added]
We believe this captures our purpose for writing this manuscript on three counts:
First, literature reviews on our topic are today done through meta-analysis. We amply used work from Dominus (2023), who is predominantly cited in our manuscript, and she presents a review of empirical findings of meta-analysis work, which we also elaborate on [leading scholars in the field such as Wampold, Leichsensring, and Glass and Smith].
Second, we sought to explain how trauma transcending requires that methodology be understood, which often is intertwined with treatment outcomes. We believe our focus on inductive/deductive approaches is needed in the literature, which is part of the philosophy of science in how progress is monitor. As far as we can tell, this is an original presentation in this literature as applied to our topic. That is, theory development and testing are a natural cycle in using the scientific method and it needs to be applied and understood in transcending trauma researching.
Third, the field of trauma transcendence through an empirical lense is relatively new in psychology—with most expositions done through humanistic and philosophical lenses. Our research team is one of the few to present it methodologically through a psychological Lense.
4. P3 L18 “obliquely affected individuals,” What kind of influence are you referring to? I think it would be better if you could explain it with specific examples.
Response: We agree and have replaced
Also, we stated that trauma obliquely affected individuals, and that a person’s definition and experience of trauma required context and personal construal.
With
Also, we stated that trauma uniquely and differentially affected individuals—on a severity continuum of no- to high-harm trauma-experience for a similar event across individuals. That is, an event that is traumatic for one person may not be for another. Furthermore, a person’s definition and experience of trauma is influenced by context and personal construal or interpretation.
The new wording captures how trauma affects individuals differently and it is more concise, which the reviewer noted was needed.
5. P3 L6 “We had proposed a model of trauma transcendence focused on a person’s affect, behavior, and cognition (ABC’s of social psychology; Zamora et al., 2019),”
Since there are many theories with names attached with ABC, it is easier for readers to get confused by simply explaining the theory. Is it the same content as the ABC described later on P11?
Response: The reviewer has a good point. We have elaborated paragraph 1 so the ABC theory is explicitly referenced and framed in regards to social psychology. We revised paragraph 1 from
We had proposed a model of trauma transcendence focused on a person’s affect, behavior, and cognition (ABC’s of social psychology; Zamora et al., 2019), showing effective approaches that had a good balance of the ABC.
To
To help with trauma transcendence, our research group has shown that we must first understand how a person’s affect, behavior, and cognition--also known as the ABC tripartite model in social psychology (Jhangiani & Tarry, 2022)—need to be considered (Zamora et al., 2019). In specific, Zamora et al. showed that different types of trauma treatments, such as the 12-steps approach program used by Alcoholics’ Anonymous, Kübler-Ross (1969) six-stages of grief, as well as the broaden-and-build theory of emotions (Fredrickson, 1998), all involved aspects of Affect, Behavior, Cognition (ABC).
We offer further clarification in our response to the reviewer’s comment for P4 L5 below.
6. P4 Figure 2
Is the title of the figure Figure 1?
Response: This is correct and we have fixed the typographical error. It should be Figure 1, not 2.
7. P4 L5 “Reframing Zamora et al.’s (2019) and Vega et al.’s (2021) Transcendence Theory and the 5Rs Model”
References are provided, but the information that stands out in this paper is the one in Figure 1, so I think I should explain this theory briefly. Also indicate how this theory proposed by the author fits into the main theme of this paper.
Response: Again, the reviewer has a great point on this blatant gap in our review. We have inserted an additional paragraph to clarify the model below Figure 1.
“The main points of the model in Figure 1 are that transcending trauma requires …. “ [see paragraph.]
In that paragraph, we elaborate on assumptions and tie it to the ABC and 5Rs models of the theory.
8. P10 L4 “Pro-action”
I couldn't read the meaning of this term. Is it a commonly used term?
Response: The term is not as common as proactive. We have made the change.