ABSTRACT
Since the advent of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) into the diagnostic classification system in 1980, hundreds of studies have begun to examine the phenomenology, etiology, and epidemiology of human responses to an exhaustive list of traumatic stressors. Group therapy for trauma survivors was one of the treatments included in the review of therapies for PTSD, and it was found to be "promising" in its potential for use with various groups of trauma survivors. Group therapy for trauma has a lengthy history, with a published report of its use with combat-related trauma dating back to the World War II era. The advent of PTSD into the psychiatric diagnostic system in 1980 initiated a flurry of research that soon established commonalities in symptom manifestations and pathogenesis across survivors of many kinds of traumatic experiences. Maintaining a safe and respectful therapy environment is a key therapist responsibility in clinical work with trauma survivors.
