Handbook of Women, Stress and Trauma

Women are significantly more likely to experience certain types of stress and trauma, though not enough is currently available to counselors and social workers about how to assess and treat trauma-related issues in females. Women not only process information and react differently than males but are also affected by hormones and emotions differently. In addition, females face particular stresses at each developmental stage from the pressures of adolescence to childbearing to simultaneous mothering for children and aging parents. TheHandbook of Women, Stress and Traumafocuses on the stresses and traumas that are unique to the lives of women. It is the first text to merge research from the fields of trauma and women's health. Using a lifespan developmental approach, the text begins by addressing specific issues that women face at various stages in their lives, drawing upon theories of development and exploring how women's relationships with others buffer-or sometimes cause-stress and trauma.Subsequent sections of the handbook focus on stress and trauma in the lives of mothers; the spectrum of violence against women; and stress and trauma in special populations of women, including women of color, women with disabilities and lesbians.

Kathleen A. Kendall-Tackett is a health psychologist and Research Associate Professor of Psychology, Research Lab/Crimes against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire.