Trauma and Recovery: The Art of Creating and Sustaining Effective Groups for Trauma Survivors

As part of our foray into the blog world, we would like to increase your awareness of events Womencare Counseling Center is involved in or hosting. Please take a look at this event, which is happening at the end of October. We'd love for you to join us!

Event Details

Trauma and Recovery: The Art of Creating and Sustaining Effective Groups for Trauma Survivors

• Date and Time: Friday, October 25th, 2013, from 9:00am - 4:30pm.
• Location: Orrington Hotel, Evanston Illinois
• Presented by: Judith Herman and Emily Schatzow
• Cost: $150 through September 30th, $175 after September 30th. Call for group rates.
• To Register, click here.
• 6 CEUs are available

Like many trauma therapists, we were raised on Judith Herman’s seminal book Trauma and Recovery (1992). Now, The Trauma Recovery Group: A Guide for Practitioners has arrived. This comprehensive handbook emerged from thirty years of experience and research on trauma focused recovery groups.

From the initial intake interview to the concluding session, our presenters Judith Herman and Emily Schatzow, will provide a road map for facilitating ‘stage two’ trauma focused groups for survivors of interpersonal traumas. They will outline the skills, foundations and structures that are necessary for a successful group.

A panel of therapists from Womencare will join Judith Herman and Emily Schatzow in the afternoon to answer questions and to talk honestly about the lessons of many years of experience leading groups for trauma survivors. They will discuss mistakes they have made, the challenges they have encountered and the triumphs that have sustained them. Therapists on the panel will include Laurie Kahn, LCPC; Judith Ierulli, LCSW; Monica Robinson, LCSW; and Alissa Catiis, LCSW. The panel will be moderated by Ellen Lonnquist, LMFT.

Conference Objectives:

• To gain understanding for how group therapy is particularly useful for trauma survivors.
• To integrate six key elements of the Trauma Recovery Group with your practice.
• To conceptualize the importance of individualized group treatment goals.
• To identify at least three key differences between “stage one” and “stage two” trauma groups.
• To make meaning from the successes and mishaps of the panelists‘ experiences with facilitating trauma groups.

From a Review by Laurie Kahn:

"Those of us who have the privilege to lead groups for survivors know the irresistible and compelling nature of groups. The sharing of trauma narratives, coupled with members’ willingness to bear witness, can melt the layers of shame from the many untold secrets and from the insidious isolation created by the interpersonal traumas. The group provides an experience of empathic connections that foster safety and a sense of belonging.

However, if you lead a recovery group and lack strong group skills, guidance, or good supervision you also know that when a group goes awry the group members’ sense of safety is compromised and your confidence as a group leader is eroded. The group can become fertile ground for traumatic enactments, affect dysregulation, and for experiences that re-traumatize rather than enlighten."

-Laurie Kahn

We hope to see you there!