Group psychotherapy for female adult survivors of interpersonal psychological trauma: a preliminary study in Scotland

Abstract

Background: There is limited evidence on manualised group interventions that facilitate the development of trauma recovery skills, affect regulation and meaning making for survivors of interpersonal trauma.Aim: The study aimed to provide preliminary evidence on the effectiveness of group psychotherapy (based on Trauma Recovery and Empowerment Model, TREM) for psychological distress in adult survivors of interpersonal trauma.Method: Participants were a consecutive series of female patients (n = 71) from the waiting lists of five National Health Service (NHS) Boards in Scotland. Participants completed a set of self-rated measures (PCL, CORE, SCL-90, DES and RSES) at baseline, mid-intervention, post-intervention and 3-month follow-up.Results: Effect sizes were small to medium across measures and assessment points at post-treatment and follow-up. With regard to clinical significance, at post-treatment, a proportion of 9.9% to 54.9% of participants achieved clinical significance across measures. At follow-up, a proportion of 9.9% to 62.0% of participants achieved clinical significance across measures.Conclusions: Group psychotherapy may be useful for a proportion of participants and especially so for symptoms of dissociation and self-esteem. Survivors of interpersonal trauma should be offered a choice of individual or group treatment modalities to reduce drop-out rate and maximise outcomes.