Trauma Recovery and Empowerment: A Clinician's Guide for Working with Women in Groups [Paperback]

In the mental health field we find ourselves constantly understaffed and underfunded. Trying to meet the wide variety of needs presented by clients can be overwhelming. It seems impossible to provide the proper support to people who present with addictions and years of trauma. Add in dual diagnosis and homelessness and it seems we're facing an impossible task.

But the Trauma Recovery and Empowerment Model (TREM) provides a well scripted approach to addressing ALL the concerns you'd see in clients in a community mental health setting. I was skeptical that a group setting could provide appropriate support to clients dealing such a wide variety of problems. However, I started using the manual with a group of women in long term inpatient rehabilitation for substance abuse. It has been surprisingly successful. The pace of each group is perfect as it starts with goals, progresses through questions for all participants to answer, and closes with an activity. The clients love the structure of the sessions and remind us if we don't follow the script exactly. Women have opened up and shared very intimate things that I thought they'd never share in a group. The women leave with a sense that they shared openly and feel accepted by the group and own the beginning of their healing.

I believe TREM is an invaluable resource. I have a wonderful series of group sessions set out that require a minimum of preparation. The clients in the TREM group can address their concerns in a safe setting. The agency I work for is able to serve many women at once who would receive no trauma counseling if we didn't have the TREM group. Ideally, it would be best for each woman to have unlimited one on one counseling to address trauma, but that won't happen because of time and funding and staffing. So TREM is a winning option for everyone.

Some lessons I've learned the hard way:
1. Don't mess with the structure. Following the manual the way it is written is the most powerful way to use TREM. If you need to change the program for a special population check the resources found in the book. I have purchased special supplements for working in prisons and with men.

2. Attend a training with Community Connections (who created the method) if at all possible. I can't stress how helpful it was to share in the years of wisdom the trainers shared as well as to get practice at running a group.

3. Don't underestimate your clients. Every time I thought my group would hate an exercise or project I was wrong. I imagined them rolling their eyes when I told them they would be doing something like painting treasure boxes- but they loved each project. It finally occurred to me that teaching women very basic self soothing that comes from crafts, relaxation, poems, and sharing is the most valuable part of the program.

I strongly recommend this book and the TREM program for anyone working in community counseling who has clients with a wide variety of needs and little time or resources to create programs to meet everyone's needs. TREM is a gift to the clients but also a gift to busy counselors and understaffed agencies.

Trauma Recovery and Empowerment is a great book to use with women (individually and in groups)to move forward after being in a traumatic, abusive relationship. The book is designed for use with groups, but I use the material for individual sessions as well. The material is also useful for working with women who are still in abusive relationships and not sure if they are ready to leave yet. There are sample questions, activity ideas for groups, stories from past survivors, and information about trauma and recovery in general. Great book!!

This book is the basis for the best psychoeducational method of working with people with histories of abuse I have encountered in my 15 years as a counselor.

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