Supervision and staff training for children's group psychotherapy: general principles and applications with cumulatively traumatized, inner-city children.
Cumulatively traumatized children frequently benefit from theme-centered, trauma-focused psychotherapy groups, which promote recovery from trauma and enhance ego functioning. Unfortunately, even as children's group programs proliferate, therapists are still routinely assigned to supervisors who neither understand nor appreciate the modality. Modality-specific supervision is critical in treating traumatized children in groups, because such children are at significant risk of retraumatization. This article surveys and discusses problematic supervisory practices; advocates modality-specific supervision focusing on peer interaction, multiple transference enactments, and group culture; and describes a process-oriented consultation group that facilitates modality-specific cognitive and affective learning.