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What is collective trauma?
Collective trauma happens when a traumatic event affects an entire community or society to the extent that it creates widespread psychological distress that becomes embedded in shared memory. Whether it's a natural disaster, historical injustice, or mass violence, these experiences reshape how entire groups understand themselves and their world.
When working with clients affected by collective trauma, you witness the ripple effects of events that have impacted entire communities. These experiences can transform relationships, alter cultural identity, and create ongoing mental health challenges, including PTSD, anxiety disorders, and panic attacks. Research shows that collective trauma often leads to increased substance abuse and other coping mechanisms as people struggle with the aftermath (Duane et al., 2020).
The effects of collective trauma extend far beyond the immediate aftermath. It becomes an ongoing process that continues to influence communities for generations.
Understanding collective trauma means recognizing it's not just about what happened—it's about how communities continue to carry and process these experiences over time.
The effects of collective trauma extend far beyond the immediate aftermath. It becomes an ongoing process that continues to influence communities for generations.
Six examples of collective trauma experiences
Collective trauma inflicts enduring psychological distress while reshaping collective memory and cultural identity. Here are six examples of collective trauma experiences:
1. Southern California wildfires in 2025
The devastating wildfires that swept through Los Angeles County in 2025 displaced thousands of families and destroyed entire neighborhoods. Beyond the immediate physical destruction, these fires triggered widespread trauma responses, including panic attacks and PTSD symptoms that continue to affect survivors today.
What makes this collective trauma particularly complex is how it's reshaped the community's relationship with their environment and sense of safety. Recovery efforts are ongoing, but the psychological impact extends far beyond what you might see in individual therapy sessions.
2. COVID-19 pandemic
The global pandemic created a shared traumatic experience unlike anything in recent history. You've likely seen firsthand how it contributed to increased anxiety disorders, PTSD, and substance abuse as communities grappled with loss, isolation, and uncertainty.
3. Sandy Hook Elementary School Massacre 2012
This tragedy became a watershed moment for understanding mass violence trauma. The impact extended far beyond Newtown, Connecticut, affecting how parents, educators, and children across the country think about safety and vulnerability.
4. 9/11 terrorist attack
More than two decades later, the September 11 attacks continue to influence American culture and individual psychology. Research shows that many people still experience flight anxiety, building phobias, and other trauma responses related to these events (Galston, 2021).
The attacks also revealed something important about collective healing—alongside the trauma, communities witnessed extraordinary acts of heroism and mutual aid that became part of the recovery narrative.
5. The Holocaust
This historical trauma illustrates how collective experiences of mass violence and even physical and sexual abuse can have a lasting impact on multiple generations. Studies of Holocaust survivors show that PTSD symptoms and compromised well-being persisted for decades, with trauma responses often passed down to children and grandchildren (Barel et al., 2010).
Collective trauma doesn't end with the original survivors. It creates intergenerational patterns that mental health professionals must understand to provide effective care.
6. The Great Depression
The Great Depression of the 1930s, which began with the well-known Black Tuesday market crash, was the most severe in modern American history. This prolonged period of economic collapse led to chronic psychological distress and negative consequences for mental health conditions, contributing to increased substance abuse and shaping collective memory through its pervasive effects.
This event had a significant impact on our grandparents and great-grandparents, commonly referred to as "Depression-era children."
Collective trauma doesn't end with the original survivors. It creates intergenerational patterns that mental health professionals must understand to provide effective care.
Effects of collective trauma on mental health
Collective trauma exerts a profound psychological impact through a dynamic social-psychological process that affects both individual trauma survivors and the fabric of entire communities.
To an individual
When you're treating someone who's experienced collective trauma, you're often seeing symptoms that mirror individual trauma but with added layers of complexity. Direct survivors frequently develop anxiety disorders, trauma-related disorders, and may experience panic attacks or somatic symptoms related to nervous system dysregulation.
Substance abuse often increases as people seek ways to cope with psychological distress and lowered self-esteem. What makes collective trauma particularly challenging is how it intersects with cultural identity and community belonging, factors that can either support or complicate recovery.
The effects don't stop with first-generation survivors. Children and grandchildren of trauma survivors often carry these experiences forward, influencing how they navigate relationships, safety, and their place in the world.
To the community
Collective trauma disrupts the social fabric that holds communities together. Traumatic events—whether natural disasters, mass violence, or terrorist attacks—can create widespread fear that undermines trust and social cohesion.
Social workers and mental health professionals note that collective trauma, as the term collective trauma refers, not only impacts the direct survivors but also casts a long shadow over the entire society, with historical trauma and shared trauma influencing future generations and undermining a fundamental sense of safety in everyday life (Herman, 1992).
How can mental health professionals help groups heal from collective trauma?
As a mental health professional, you have several evidence-based approaches available for supporting collective trauma recovery. The key is understanding that healing happens both individually and collectively.
Trauma-informed group therapy
Group therapy provides a powerful space for processing shared experiences. When you create trauma-informed groups, you're offering participants the chance to process events together while addressing specific symptoms.
These groups work particularly well because they normalize trauma responses and reduce the isolation that often follows collective traumatic events. You can help participants build self-awareness while strengthening their connection to others who share similar experiences.
Community outreach and support programs
Effective trauma recovery often requires moving beyond the therapy room. Community outreach programs bring together mental health professionals, social workers, and community members to rebuild relationships and address trauma's broader impacts.
These programs are essential because collective trauma affects entire social networks. By working at the community level, you can help address ongoing challenges like reconstruction stress, social disconnection, and the erosion of community trust.
Culturally sensitive interventions
Different communities experience and process trauma in unique ways. When you're working with collective trauma, cultural sensitivity is essential for effective treatment.
This means honoring the diverse ways different groups understand trauma, healing, and resilience. Whether you're working with Holocaust survivors, refugee communities, or disaster-affected neighborhoods, your interventions must respect and build upon existing cultural strengths and healing traditions.
Interdisciplinary collaboration and social work integration
Collective trauma recovery works best when mental health professionals collaborate across disciplines. You may work alongside social workers, community leaders, medical professionals, and other specialists to address the multiple impacts of trauma.
This collaborative approach recognizes that collective trauma affects more than just mental health—it impacts housing, employment, education, and community infrastructure. By working as part of a team, you can help address these interconnected challenges more effectively.
Long-term resilience and recovery training
Recovery from collective trauma is often a long-term process. You can support this by providing resilience training that helps both survivors and communities develop sustainable coping strategies.
These programs focus on building adaptive coping skills, fostering self-awareness, and helping communities develop new collective identities that incorporate both trauma and healing. The goal is to create resilience that benefits not only current survivors but also future generations.
References
Barel, E., Van IJzendoorn, M. H., Sagi-Schwartz, A., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (2010). Surviving the holocaust: A meta-analysis of the long-term sequelae of a genocide. Psychological Bulletin, 136(5), 677–698. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020339
Duane, A. M., Stokes, K. L., DeAngelis, C. L., & Bocknek, E. L. (2020). Collective trauma and community support: Lessons from Detroit. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(5), 452–454. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000791
Galea, S., Nandi, A., & Vlahov, D. (2005). The epidemiology of post-traumatic stress disorder after disasters. Epidemiologic Reviews, 27(1), 78–91. https://doi.org/10.1093/epirev/mxi003
Galston, W. A. (2021, September 9). Twenty years later, how Americans assess the effects of the 9/11 attacks. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/twenty-years-later-how-americans-assess-the-effects-of-the-9-11-attacks/
Herman, J. L. (1992). Trauma and recovery: Aftermath of violence from domestic abuse to political terror. Basic Books.
Commonly asked questions
