Healing Trauma

Healing Trauma: The Power of Group Treatment for People With Intellectual Disabilities is a compassionate, informative guide to group therapy for an often- neglected population. People with intellectual disabilities suffer higher than average rates of trauma, sexual abuse, and psychopathology, but many formidable obstacles have impeded accurate diagnoses and treatments for members of this population. Razza and Tomasulo maintain that the need for psychotherapy for people with both intellectual and psychiatric disorders can no longer be ignored, and devote this volume to building a clear foundation for determining treatments of choice for patients with intellectual disabilities.

Choosing group treatment as the most effective intervention, the authors describe interactive-behavioral therapy (IBT), based heavily on traditional models of group therapy and psychodrama, and modified to enhance the possibility for change in people with intellectual disabilities. In IBT, member-to-member interactions are regarded as a priority for learning, as the group therapy format allows for a controlled connection with others in which each individual’s style of interrelating can be examined and altered. The authors describe IBT sessions with great clarity, detailing each stage and task of the process, and reporting on various therapeutic factors that emerge during group therapy. The special considerations and needs of group treatment for trauma and sexual abuse survivors and offenders with intellectual disabilities are covered in equal measure, and information is offered about how the application of the interactive-behavioral model can be used in sexual abuse avoidance training. A related model of individual treatment is detailed along with ways in which the clinician can make informed decisions concerning the most effective course of treatment for a given individual outside of group treatment.

In heartfelt and instructive language, the authors make an effective case for the powerful gains that can be attained by psychotherapy for people with intellectual disabilities, and this book will be an invaluable research for clinicians and other helping professionals who work with them.