Group work is an important part of STARTTS' approach to the treatment of survivors of torture and trauma. State instituted violence aims to break up and disintegrate social connection and community solidarity. One-to-one counselling may be necessary to assist severely traumatised individuals to integrate the meaning and effects of past trauma, and to regain trust in themselves and in others. However, groups provide the opportunity for individuals to reconnect with others in a safe and sustaining way. In groups, survivors have an opportunity to support each other, to learn together, to process the trauma and grief of shared experience. For children and young people, sharing activities and outings with others of the same age, with similar or traumatic backgrounds, can be particularly beneficial. Within a context of shared enjoyment, they have the opportunity to process their past experiences. The groups also provide valuable "time out" from the responsibilities of daily life, where the challenges of resettlement are often intensified by their parents' struggles with their own traumatic histories.

Groups include several which are run by STARTTS staff in partnership with other service providers from different communities. Participants are referred by service providers, family members or self-referral, and assessed for appropriateness for the group before inclusion.

At any one time, several of the following groups will be current:

• Information groups - in different languages, about our services, and what we can do for clients
• Support groups - which provide activities, information about services, and and outings for specific communities
• Psycho-education groups - particularly about the effects and symptomatology of trauma, and information on the settlement process
• Therapeutic groups - which provide group therapy with a therapist facilitator, to work though the deeper impact of trauma upon people's thoughts, feelings, behaviour
  and relationships
• Exercise groups - to assist relaxation and physical mobility
• Craft groups - both women's and men's, sometimes in partnership with other community service providers
• Children's and young peoples' groups - therapeutic art and discussion groups; homework groups in conjunction with other service providers; groups based around providing activities and outings for young people
• Parent and Child groups - where parents and their adolescent children meet separately, at the same time, to discuss the difficulties of family adjustments to Australian culture
• Temporary Protection visa holders self-help and support groups
• Families in Cultural Transition (FICT)groups, in different languages, led by community members trained by STARTTS, to facilitate information dissemination and discussion around settlement issues for newly-arrived refugees