Several family members may be affected by the same traumatic or overwhelming event, such as community violence, medical crises, death or illness in the family, accidents, or natural disasters. Although I sometimes process trauma separately with each family member using Francine Shapiro’s standard individualized EMDR protocol, I more often begin with a step-wise family approach that starts with a group protocol. The three group protocols I most often use are: 1) the Group Traumatic Episode Protocol (GTEP), developed by Elan Shapiro and Brurit Laub; 2) C-GTEP, a child-focused adaptation of GTEP developed by Ana Gomez; and 3) the EMDR Integrative Group Treatment Protocol (IGTP), developed by Dr. Ignacio Jarero and Dr. Lucina Artigas. Family members who remain symptomatic after group work can then be referred for individual EMDR treatment.
This approach is important because not every child, adult, or parent requires comprehensive individual therapy with extensive stabilization. When appropriate, group EMDR treatment can make care more accessible by optimizing clinical resources and reaching more children, adolescents, parents, and adults who need trauma support.
At the same time, screening and preparation are essential to ensure participant safety and protocol effectiveness. Group protocols such as GTEP are not appropriate for every participant. Contraindications may include active suicidal ideation, severe dissociation, inability to self-regulate distress, active substance use, or inability to attend or engage in group exercises.
Once participants have been appropriately screened, the choice of protocol depends on the type of trauma, the developmental needs of the participants, and the level of containment required. GTEP and IGTP may be used with adults, Teens, mixed-age groups, and children. GTEP is especially useful for recent acute trauma when safety, containment, and fragmented traumatic material are central concerns. IGTP is well suited for complex or ongoing trauma in group settings and is often used in prevention work.
For families, group protocols offer several important benefits. Each person can process their own distress while remaining connected to the family unit, which can create a shared sense of healing, reduce isolation, and increase empathy among family members. Because participants are supported by safe others while their internal processing remains private, families may feel more secure engaging in trauma work together.
Group protocols also allow clinicians to support multiple family members in a timely and efficient way, which may reduce overall treatment time and cost. This is especially valuable for families affected by medical diagnoses, accidents, community violence, or other shared traumatic experiences, where early stabilization and processing can help prevent distress from becoming more entrenched.
The structured format of these protocols further supports stability. Predictable steps and self-administered bilateral stimulation give each participant a sense of control, which can reduce anxiety and limit emotional spill-over between family members.
As family members become less reactive, they often report feeling more connected after these sessions. Group protocols may help repair disrupted family bonds by allowing members to witness one another’s healing, reduce blame, guilt, and misunderstandings related to the traumatic event, and encourage mutual support without requiring participants to disclose the details of their internal processing.
In conclusion, group EMDR treatment can be a safe, efficient, and clinically meaningful option for families who have experienced trauma together. With careful screening, thoughtful protocol selection, and appropriate preparation, these approaches can support stabilization, reduce isolation, improve communication, and strengthen emotional attunement within the family system. They may also lessen secondary trauma by decreasing reactivity, easing caregiver burnout, and helping family members reconnect without requiring detailed disclosure of their individual traumatic material. For families with younger children, IGTP’s use of drawing and art-based activities can make trauma processing more accessible. When symptoms persist, individual EMDR treatment remains an important next step, allowing group work to serve as both an early intervention and a pathway to more focused care.
