In this introduction to the Special Issue on Trauma and Idioms of Distress, we provide an overview of the concept and typology of idioms of distress, focusing particularly on their clinical utility. This includes the role of idioms as indicators of trauma exposure, of various types of psychopathology and of levels of distress, risk and functioning. It likewise includes the fact that idioms of distress may profoundly influence the personal meaning of having a trauma-related disorder, may shape the interpersonal course of the disorder and may pattern help-seeking and self-treatment.

Group psychotherapy with complex traumatized clients can be highly challenging for therapists. Traditional psychodynamic group therapy can be especially overwhelming for patients with dissociative comorbidity. These patients tend to react with avoidance, withdrawal, and dissociation to emotions mobilized during the group process.

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Central Gulf Coast region of the United States. The storm and its aftermath resulted in the most severe, damaging, and costly natural and unnatural disaster in the nation's history—as evidenced by the size of the region affected, the loss of life, the extensive destruction of property, and the thousands displaced.Over 2 years post-disaster, many families lived in temporary housing and had limited access to basic services, to date, many continue to struggle to meet basic needs.

This paper explores how conditions of life in a refugee camp contribute to domestic violence. It draws on the 'nested ecological model' of domestic violence, which integrates individual and family factors, socio-economic context, and culture. Displacement depletes the resources available to refugees at each of these levels. Eighteen focus group discussions were held in Kakuma refugee camp (Kenya). Most displacement-related factors identified as contributing to domestic violence are consequences of the structural conditions of refugees' lives.