Trauma-Informed Groups: Recommendations for Group Work Practice
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Trauma‑Informed Groups: Recommendations for Group Work Practice Stephanie L. Baird1 · Ramona Alaggia2
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019
Abstract The need for helping professionals to provide services from a trauma-informed perspective has been receiving increasing attention. The primary goal of adopting a trauma-informed approach is to prevent inadvertent re-traumatization during service provision, and to ensure people receive appropriate services in a non-pathologizing manner. However, despite the growing recognition of trauma-informed approaches, there is lack of clarity in the literature about their application to group settings. This paper examines this area of service provision by: outlining the key concepts of trauma-informed practice; describing the relevance of these concepts to group work; identifying specific benefits of becoming trauma-informed; and providing best practice recommendations and cautionary notes for group work practitioners. These recommendations include: (1) assessing for past trauma prior to commencing groups; (2) developing safety and respect within the group setting; (3) focusing on building affect regulation and self-care skills at the beginning of groups; (4) minimizing possibilities for re-traumatization through containment strategies; and (5) recognizing and responding to the potential contributions of oppression and marginalization to traumatic life experiences. Keywords Trauma-informed group practice · Trauma · Group work · Group treatment · Group therapy · Service provision
Introduction The need for helping professionals to provide services from a trauma-informed perspective has been receiving increasing attention (Garza et al. 2019; Knight 2015). Emerging out of trauma theory, trauma-informed approaches emphasize the need for all service providers to recognize and respond to the possible role that trauma plays in the lives of the individuals they serve (Reeves 2015). The primary goal of adopting a trauma-informed approach is to prevent the inadvertent re-traumatization of clients and to have them receive appropriate services in a non-pathologizing manner (Harris and Fallot 2001). As such, the move towards the provision * Stephanie L. Baird [email protected] Ramona Alaggia [email protected] 1
School of Social Work, King’s University College at Western University, 266 Epworth Avenue, London, ON N6A 2M3, Canada
Factor‑Inwentash Chair in Children’s Mental Health, Factor‑Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, 246 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON M5S 1A1, Canada
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of trauma-informed services has been driven by a credible body of research (Elliott et al. 2005; Harris and Fallot 2001; Goodman et al. 2016; Kelly and Garland 2016). While recognition of trauma may seem intrinsic to trauma-related group interventions such as therapeutic groups for sexual abuse or intimate partner violence (IPV) (Gold 2002; Poole and Greaves 2012), it remains unclear how trauma-informed approaches are being applied throu
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