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.

Keywords:

• child sexual abuse
• group psychotherapy
• interpersonal trauma
• mental health

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the following people for their contribution:

Heather Hillen, Deirdre Buckley, Elaine Carr, Joanne Savage, Lyn Terry-Short, Maureen Nicol, Sian Kerr, Rachel Bonney, Lyndsey McNair, Emma Lidstone, Ruth Keenan, Fara McAfee, Linzi Dixon, Mette Kreis, Alison Wells, Kathryn Watt, Alison Tulloh.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.