Eichelberger 1

Allison Eichelberger
Professor Werts-Orbaugh
UWRT 1103-003
20 September 2015

Short-Term Group Therapy with Holocaust Survivors and the Second Generation
Sheila Erlich
Group
Vol. 26, No. 2 (June 2002), pp. 163-171
Published by: Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41719010
Page Count: 9
WeeklyAssignment3

ThisarticleIfoundisaboutalldifferentsortsoftreatmentsofsurvivorsoftheHolocaust.
Itcoversclassical,longtermgrouptherapy,familytherapy,secondgenerationgroups,
transgenerationalgroups,andshorttermtherapy.Italsogoesintosecondgenerationandhow
theyhandledwhathappenedtotheirparentsandhadspecialtherapygroupsforthem.These
groupsreallyfocusedonHolocaustissuesleavingthedevelopmentofindividualsfornon
holocaustareastoothergrouptherapies.Theatmosphereofthesegroupsformeantformembers
toventthingsandbewithotherswhosharethesamepainastheydo.Tryingtofindtheiridentity
onceagain.Theyalltookplacein
Thepointofthisessaywastotalkaboutdifferentkindsoftreatmentsforsurvivorsofthe
Holocaust.Thisarticlewentintodeepdetailabouteachtypeoftherapyandwhowasapartof
eachkind.Theytalkedabouthowoftentheymetorweatherthemethodswereassuccessornot.
Theyalsowentintodetailaboutthesecondgenerationandhowtheyfeltbadfortheirparents,

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andhowbothgenerationsstruggledwithdepressionandanger.Ifeellikewhattheauthors
wantedustotakeawayfromthiswasthatnotonlyaretheHolocaustsurvivorsmentally
depressedorhurt,butalsothesecondgeneration.Also,thateachtypeofgrouptherapyhave
differentgoalstheywanttoreach.
I had a mix of emotions going through head as I was reading this article. I was happy to
learn that there are a wide variety of different types of therapy the holocaust survivors and their
family can attend. On the others hand, I know this cannot be an time for the survivors or their
families and reading about how they are depressed or angry makes me feel bad for them.
Learning that the children also suffer with depression and attend group treatments also makes
sad. I did find the journal interesting because I learned a lot more on post Holocaust survivor
mental health treatments. Also, they shared the information in way that was pretty simple to
understand and comprehend, unlike some previous articles I had looked at.
The inquiry topic I am doing is Holocaust survivors mental health and Post stress
disorder. As I was researching this topic and coming across different articles, I found this one and
I thought it would work well with what I am doing for my inquiry topic. By the article talking
about survivors and their mental health, as well as, types of treatments to help them relates to my
topic. When I began looking for an article, I was unsure of exactly what road I wanted to go
down. I started by using key words I wanted to focus on and kept typing in different ones until I
found what I was looking for. The keys words that worked for me was Holocaust, survivor,
and health. I am excited to continue my research and expand my knowledge on this topic and
see what other types of treatments Holocaust survivors went through.