Challenges Associated with the Study of Resilience to Trauma in Holocaust Survivors

ABSTRACT

To date, the majority of research on the Holocaust has focused on the pathological sequelae associated with exposure to severe trauma. While this line of research is extremely important in understanding trauma-related psychopathology, it ignores the experience of those who managed to resume adaptive life despite the horrendous effects of the Holocaust. This article reviews the current state of knowledge on resilience to trauma in light of the numerous challenges associated with launching this type of research with survivors of the Holocaust. A more balanced approach that identifies the pathological as well as the resilient aspects in the life of Holocaust survivors is likely to provide important clinical and theoretical information about survival following exposure to severe trauma.

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Liat Ayalon

Liat Ayalon is a clinical psychology fellow at the University of California, San Francisco. She is currently completing her second year of fellowship under a Health Resources and Services Administration grant. Her research interests include mental health services among the ethnic minority elderly and resilience to trauma.