The Trauma Recovery Group

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.

1. Interpersonal Violence and Trauma Recovery
2. Overview of the Trauma Recovery Group
3. Initial Preparations and Member Screening
4. The Introductory Phase
5. Goal-Work Sessions
6. The Concluding Phase
7. Supervision
8. Adaptations and Applications
9. Outcome Research on the Trauma Recovery Group
Appendix A. Sample Recruitment Flyer for Clients
Appendix B. Sample Recruitment Flyer for Clinicians
Appendix C. Telephone Prescreening and Tracking Tool
Appendix D. Screening Interview Checklist
Appendix E.: Guide for Collateral Contact with the Client’s Individual Therapist
Appendix F. Trauma Recovery Group Guidelines
Appendix G. Co-leader’s Group Tracking Notes for Supervisory Meetings
Appendix H. Time-Taking Tracking Tool
Appendix I. Member’s Concluding Exercise Preparation
Appendix J. Supervisor's Tracking Tool