Healing Trauma with Metaphoric Cards

Dr. Ofra Ayalon is one of the creators of the COPE deck and an internationally known traumatologist and author, wrote an article, “Healing Trauma with Metaphoric Cards,” which was published in Therapy Today (September 2007, pages 22-24).

The entire article is available to read or download in PDF format (download the PDF).

This excerpt is from the beginning of the article:

Survivors of disasters can fall into a vortex of helpless despair – or climb a healing spiral using a variety of resources. One effective tool to aid recovery is the deck of COPE cards.

Crisis and disaster are part of life. We are exposed to dangerous environments through war and terrorism, ecological, natural or technological disasters and urban violence. Poverty, racial persecution and physical or sexual abuse also cause suffering and trauma, as do individual crises such as loss and death of dear ones, destruction and loss of home, abandonment and betrayal.

Survivors of such disasters are often left feeling helpless or depressed, plagued with guilt or anger, caught in the trauma vortex.