| Summary: | Current trauma theories lack etiological knowledge. Specifically, examining the
ignored cognitive and emotional processing differences within the trauma disorders
reveals heterogeneity in the diagnoses. This paper differentiates the disorders using two
main traits that determine how and for whom pathological traumatic responses occur.
Coping capability is defined as the ability to separate emotion, cognition and perception,
allowing cognitive processes to regulate intense emotions and perceptions. Regulation
entails filtering and altering perceptions. This paper hypothesizes that there are
individual differences in this information processing function. Reflective Processing is
the name of this trait and determines the kind of traumatic response. Emotional
Perception is the other central determining trait. It is a perception and is therefore subject
to the same Information Processing modes. How this trait (or absence thereof) is
managed or mismanaged shapes how other emotions are dealt with. Eleven types of
Emotional Perception are proposed. In general, high Emotional Perception is a risk
factor for pathological responding. Affect Intensity is a third minor trait in this model
that exacerbates traumatic responses. The end result of this paper places Reflective
Processing and Emotional Perception on a circumplex diagram. The far corners represent
being extreme on both of these traits; these corners characterize personality disorders.
Traumatic reactions are also placed on this circumplex. The center of the circumplex,
where the lines intersect, represents a "normal" response to trauma, and represents
individuals who are not personality disordered.
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