Abstract
Background: Refugees and populations affected by war, genocide, and forced displacement are exposed not only to individual traumatic events but also to collective and transgenerational forms of trauma. While psychotherapeutic research and practice have traditionally focused on individual trauma-related disorders, growing evidence highlights the relevance of historical, collective, and intergenerational processes in shaping mental health outcomes in post-conflict affected populations.
Objectives: This review aims to synthesize and critically integrate current evidence on collective and transgenerational trauma and to discuss their implications for psychotherapeutic treatment in refugee and post-conflict populations. This article is based on a narrative and integrative review of the literature, drawing on clinical, psychosocial, and public mental health perspectives as well as key theoretical models and empirical findings in the field.
Findings: Collective and transgenerational trauma operates through complex interactions between psychosocial, familial, sociocultural, and structural mechanisms. In refugee populations, ongoing post-migration stressors, discrimination, and social marginalization may reactivate historical trauma and contribute to chronic psychological distress. Trauma-related distress is best understood as a multilevel and temporally extended process shaped by the interaction of individual, collective, and structural factors. While trauma-focused psychotherapies remain central to treatment, approaches focusing exclusively on individual symptom reduction may not fully address the broader collective and contextual dimensions of trauma.
Conclusions: Effective psychotherapeutic care for refugees and post-conflict populations requires integrative approaches that combine evidence-based trauma-focused therapies with attention to collective histories, cultural meaning systems, and community-based support structures. Such approaches are essential for addressing the long-term psychological consequences of collective violence and displacement and have important implications for clinical practice, mental health service planning, and public mental health strategies in European healthcare systems.