European Journal of Psychotraumatology

Interventions in psychotraumatology: Synthesizing recent evidence within a participatory framework

A participatory special issue in collaboration with the Cn2r, France’s national resource and resilience center for psychotrauma

Exposure to psychological trauma is increasingly recognized as a global public health concern. Armed conflicts, forced displacement, interpersonal violence, and environmental disasters continue to affect millions of people worldwide, contributing to a high prevalence of trauma-related disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this context, the field of psychotraumatology has seen rapid developments in both clinical practice and scientific research, with an expanding range of interventions — including psychological, pharmacological, community-based, and other innovative approaches — being tested, refined, and implemented.

Given the pace of these developments, there is a pressing need for regular, accessible, and critically informed syntheses of the most recent scientific literature. This special issue aims to provide an up-to-date overview of intervention strategies in psychotraumatology.

To address this need, we invite authors to submit:

• Article type: review articles, which may follow a systematic, scoping, or narrative format, depending on the topic and objectives.
• Inclusion period: the last five years.
• Scope: reflect the diversity of approaches and populations.
• Topics may include: established or emerging treatments, adaptations for specific populations or clinical settings, or address broader questions related to the organization, ethics, and real-world implementation of trauma-informed care.

Importantly, a central feature of this initiative is its participatory framework. Individuals with lived experience of trauma will be involved throughout the editorial process, and we particularly welcome submissions that integrate lived experience through co-authorship. Reviews that adopt a participatory approach — for example, involving people with lived experience in the process of selecting, analyzing, or interpreting the literature — are welcome, provided that the approach is clearly described and methodologically sound.

What do we mean by “lived experience”?

In the context of this special issue, lived experience refers to the personal and situated knowledge of individuals who have been directly affected by traumatic events and their psychological consequences, regardless of formal diagnosis. We value this form of knowledge not only as a source of insight into trauma care, but also as a means to foster more inclusive, ethical, and effective research and clinical practices. Authors are invited to explicitly describe the role and contributions of lived experience partners in their work, when applicable.