Life Review Therapy for Holocaust Survivors (LRT-HS): A randomised controlled trial

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Simon Forstmeier
• Subject Area: Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology
• Term: from 2016 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 321729403

The Holocaust was one of the most traumatic catastrophes ever. Survivors seeking psychotherapeutic intervention today, now in their seventies and older, show the burden of the past becoming less endurable by a depressed or anxious mood as a result of an underlying posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Established psychological treatments for PTSD (e.g., cognitive behavior therapy, psychodynamic therapies) have been evaluated mainly with young and middle-aged adults, only very few studies investigated them in old age. No controlled study exists applying those treatments to the special sample of Holocaust survivors. Moreover, there is a need for an age-specific treatment of PTSD and other stress-related mental disorders. A narrative approach including life-review and narrative exposure seems to meet very well the natural need of older people to review their lives and is highly effective. However, most studies on the efficacy of live review therapy (LRT) focus on late-life depression. There is a lack of efficacy studies evaluating the effect of LRT on PTSD symptoms in older individuals that have experienced traumatic events during their lives. Thus, the main goal of this study is to evaluate the effect of LRT for Holocaust survivors on symptoms of PTSD and related mental health problems (depression, anxiety, prolonged grief), compared to a supportive control group. A secondary goal is to identify features of participants that especially seem to benefit from the intervention. The proposed study is a randomized, controlled follow-up trial including Holocaust survivors with one or more trauma-related disorders. The LRT treatment consists of 20 sessions over 6 months. Before and after the treatment phase, participants in both conditions will be assessed. Follow-up will take place at 6 months post-treatment. A sample size of 80 is required (drop-out rate included). The Israeli project partner is Prof. Dr. Danny Brom (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) who is a pioneer in psychological trauma treatment. The present study is a unique opportunity to combine the expertise of Danny Brom in PTSD treatment with the age-specific LRT treatment. He and his team cooperate with Amcha, the National Israeli Center for Psychosocial Support of Survivors of the Holocaust and the Second Generation. About 7000 Holocaust survivors are currently supported by Amcha. The participants of this study will be recruited from six Amcha centres across the country and treated by experienced psychotherapists after a special training in LRT. Efficacious interventions for trauma-related disorders in older people are of high importance, also because the probability of traumatization increases with age. Because of the fact that this study is conducted with this group of multiply traumatized people, we are convinced that the results can easily transferred to other samples.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Israel, Switzerland
• Cooperation Partners: Dr. Martin Auerbach; Professor Dr. Andreas Maercker
• International Co-Applicant: Professor Dr. Danny Brom