The effectiveness of a trauma focused spiritually integrated intervention for veterans exposed to trauma

Building Spiritual Strength (BSS) is an 8‐session, spiritually integrated group intervention designed to address religious strain and enhance religious meaning making for military trauma survivors. It is based upon empirical research on the relationship between spirituality and adjustment to trauma. To assess the intervention's effectiveness, veterans with histories of trauma who volunteered for the study were randomly assigned to a BSS group (n = 26) or a wait‐list control group (n = 28). BSS participants showed statistically significant reductions in PTSD symptoms based on self‐report measures as compared with those in a wait‐list control condition. Further research on spiritually integrated interventions for trauma survivors is warranted. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 67:1–14, 2011.