The Trauma Recovery Group: A Guide for Practitioners

Michaela Mendelsohn · Judith Lewis Herman · Emily Schatzow · Melissa Coco · Diya Kallivayalil · Jocelyn Levitan

Jun 2011 · Guilford Press

About this ebook

Rich with expert, practical guidance for therapists, this book presents a time-limited group treatment approach for survivors of interpersonal trauma. The Trauma Recovery Group is a Stage 2 approach within Judith Herman's influential stage model of treatment. It is designed for clients who have achieved basic safety and stability in present-day life and who are ready to work on processing and integrating traumatic memories. Vivid case examples and transcripts illustrate the process of screening, selecting, and orienting group members and helping them craft and work toward individualized goals, while optimizing the healing power of group interactions. In a convenient large-size format, the book includes reproducible handouts, worksheets, and flyers.

See also Group Trauma Treatment in Early Recovery, by Judith Lewis Herman and Diya Kallivayalil, which presents a Stage 1 approach that focuses on establishing safety, stability, and self-care.

About the author

Michaela Mendelsohn, PhD, is a psychologist in private practice in Cambridge and Wellesley, Massachusetts. She is also a faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Mendelsohn completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Victims of Violence (VOV) Program at the Cambridge Health Alliance, where she subsequently worked as a clinician and researcher and continues to provide supervision and consultation.

 Judith Lewis Herman, MD, is Professor of Psychiatry (part-time) at Harvard Medical School. For 30 years, until she retired, she was Director of Training at the Victims of Violence Program at Cambridge Health Alliance. Her books include Group Trauma Treatment in Early Recovery, The Trauma Recovery Group, Father–Daughter Incest, and Trauma and Recovery. Dr. Herman is a recipient of lifetime achievement awards from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and from the Division of Trauma Psychology of the American Psychological Association. She has also received the Woman in Science Award from the American Medical Women's Association and has been named a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. Emily Schatzow, MEd, is a psychotherapist in private practice in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a trainer and senior consultant for VISIONS, Inc., a nonprofit organization advising public and private institutions on workplace diversity. She is also a Research Associate in Psychiatry at Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School. Melissa Coco, LICSW, is a senior clinician and supervisor at the VOV Program and the Outpatient Psychiatry Department at the Cambridge Health Alliance and a faculty member in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Diya Kallivayalil, PhD, is a staff psychologist in the Outpatient Psychiatry Department at the Cambridge Health Alliance and a faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Jocelyn Levitan, MA, is a doctoral student in the Counseling, Clinical and School Psychology program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a former Research Coordinator at the VOV Program.