What Have Been the Experiences of Female Survivors of Interpersonal Trauma on the Survive & Thrive Course

Detailed Summary

The study is aimed to explore female patients' experience of the Survive \& Thrive course that has been designed for survivors of interpersonal trauma (e.g. childhood sexual abuse, domestic abuse, rape, physical abuse, neglect, harassment, stalking and similar). The course aims to help attendees develop an understanding of the normal range of reactions to trauma and introduce new ways of coping. It is a 10 week course that is structured to utilise cognitive behavioural skills training while delivering psychoeducation on how a history of victimisation can impacts on the survivors life. Female adult participants who attended the Survive \& Thrive course will be invited to take part in a 30-45 minutes semi-structured interview exploring their experience of the course. The aim is to interview 12 participants; those individuals attended 6 or more sessions. Access to some demographic information will be gained through the Survive \& Thrive team to gain additional insight to the participant's course experience. The rationale for this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Survive \& Thrive course as a treatment option within the Stepped Care Approach for survivors of interpersonal trauma. There is an increasing number of individuals being exposed to traumatic life events. Most research has concentrated on the individual psychological input for patients with trauma history. Courtois and Ford (2009) argued that at a service level, group therapy is more efficient than individual as it can be offered more broadly. There is however limited research on the effectiveness of manualised approaches for the mental health and behavioural problems. Research shows that safety and stabilisation in trauma survivors can be achieved through psychoeducational approaches which emphasise present-time, coping strategies/skills, elimination of self-harming behaviour, control over acute symptoms, and increased self-care (Lubin \& Johnson, 1997). Findings from this study will be published.

Study Details

Timeline

Interventions