Effectiveness of group psychotherapy for adult outpatients traumatized by abuse, neglect and/or pregnancy loss: A multiple site, pre-post-follow-up, naturalistic study.

Simon, W. & Śliwka, P. (2012). Effectiveness of group psychotherapy for adult outpatients traumatized by abuse, neglect and/or pregnancy loss: A multiple site, pre-post-follow-up, naturalistic study. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 62 (2), 283-308,

Abstract:
The New Experience for Survivors of Trauma (NEST) is a group psychotherapy intervention for clients traumatized by consequences of abuse, neglect, and pregnancy loss. This multiple site study is the fi rst investigation of its effectiveness. Ninety outpatients from a naturalistic setting completed the Symptom Checklist and the Sense of Coherence questionnaire at baseline, end of treatment, and one-year follow-up. Effectiveness was tested with statistical signifi cance, effect size, and clinical signifi cance. Clients from the total sample as well as from the abortion subsample showed improvement at the end of treatment and at follow-up. Lack of a control group is balanced to some extent by the high ecological validity. The fi ndings suggest that the NEST treatment may be benefi cial for traumatized clients and call for further research.
Keywords: group psychotherapy, abuse, neglect, pregnancy loss, follow-up, clinical significance, effect size