ABSTRACT
The fields of traumatic stress, Holocaust studies, developmental psycho-pathology, and systems theory have contributed to an expanded knowledge base of which factors are related to coping and resilience. Researchers across these fields of study have advocated for the need to investigate the interrelationships among these factors and how they explain survivorship. The particular focus of the Transcending Trauma Project (TTP) has been to propose a conceptual framework that enables us to study a life from a life history. Since the TTP was developed in the early 1990s, it has been our goal to utilize the life histories gathered from Holocaust survivors and their family members to gain a better understanding of coping and adaptation after extreme trauma. From our work, we suggest that utilizing the information available in a life history provides the broadest possible perspective for understanding the interplay between the processes of development and the capacity for handling life crises and trauma.
