ABSTRACT
Clinical data from a day spent at a New Jersey high school in 2002, one year after the World Trade Center disaster, is presented. This particular school was severely impacted by 9/11, as almost all of the students knew people who had been at Ground Zero on that day, and many had lost family members in the tragedy. Dissociation, a sense of numbness, anger, and guilt about feelings induced by the tragedy are all common dynamics in adolescents responding to trauma. The developmental issues that adolescents are confronting in normal circumstances are described and discussed in terms of the challenges they present to the healing process after this unique event. An argument is made that using groups to aid the long recovery process with our young people should be a top public health priority.
