Poster
188
(#188) A Longitudinal Study on Psychosocial Recovery and Service Uptake in a Trauma-Informed Mental Health Program for Unhoused Persons
Psych Congress 2025
Abstract: While most homelessness research emphasizes service expansion, there is limited attention to mental factors that cause unhoused persons to avoid or disengage from services. Existing support groups are typically designed for specific subpopulations by gender or substance abuse. There is a critical gap in therapies that center trauma from homelessness as the shared experience. In California, over 82% of unhoused people experience mental illness, significantly inhibiting their ability to meet basic needs and achieve long-term housing stability. Service resistance is increasingly criminalized alongside homelessness and untreated mental illness. Interventions that directly address this are essential for effective and ethical service provision.
This study evaluates a six-month trauma-informed mental health group for unhoused adults experiencing psychological distress or service disengagement. Co-facilitated by licensed clinicians and peers with lived experience, the group integrates Motivational Interviewing, complex trauma recovery, and narrative identity theories. The intervention addresses that homelessness disrupts identity, autonomy, and one's sense of social belonging. Group-based support enables participants to reconstruct a coherent narrative of self, regain a sense of agency, and experience peer accountability in a non-coercive environment. Structured group autonomy and collaborative norm-setting foster psychological safety and counteract institutional mistrust.
Psychosocial functioning will be assessed at baseline, mid, post-intervention, and three-month follow-up using validated instruments (ERQ, NGSE, PHQ-9, GAD-7, ACE). Field notes and participant interviews provide qualitative insight. Repeated measures ANOVA evaluate changes in emotion regulation, self-efficacy, and mental health. Voluntary service uptake will be tracked across timepoints to assess whether resolving internal barriers promotes re-engagement with care systems.
Short Description: This poster presents baseline and mid-intervention findings from a six-month trauma-informed support group for unhoused adults. It examines how addressing unmet mental health needs can reduce service disengagement, criminalized under encampment bans, and argues for integrating mental health care into broader homeless services. The poster also outlines the intervention's theoretical framework, detailing the psychological methods used to support identity reconstruction, address trauma, and foster ethical, voluntary engagement with services among individuals facing homelessness.
Name of Sponsoring Organization(s): Locations for the support group & funders:
Mariposa Center: https://www.mariposacenter.org
The HUB Resource Center: https://thehubresourcecenter.org
The City of Costa Mesa & The City of Newport Beach: https://www.costamesaca.gov/trending/costa-mesa-bridge-shelter
This study evaluates a six-month trauma-informed mental health group for unhoused adults experiencing psychological distress or service disengagement. Co-facilitated by licensed clinicians and peers with lived experience, the group integrates Motivational Interviewing, complex trauma recovery, and narrative identity theories. The intervention addresses that homelessness disrupts identity, autonomy, and one's sense of social belonging. Group-based support enables participants to reconstruct a coherent narrative of self, regain a sense of agency, and experience peer accountability in a non-coercive environment. Structured group autonomy and collaborative norm-setting foster psychological safety and counteract institutional mistrust.
Psychosocial functioning will be assessed at baseline, mid, post-intervention, and three-month follow-up using validated instruments (ERQ, NGSE, PHQ-9, GAD-7, ACE). Field notes and participant interviews provide qualitative insight. Repeated measures ANOVA evaluate changes in emotion regulation, self-efficacy, and mental health. Voluntary service uptake will be tracked across timepoints to assess whether resolving internal barriers promotes re-engagement with care systems.
Short Description: This poster presents baseline and mid-intervention findings from a six-month trauma-informed support group for unhoused adults. It examines how addressing unmet mental health needs can reduce service disengagement, criminalized under encampment bans, and argues for integrating mental health care into broader homeless services. The poster also outlines the intervention's theoretical framework, detailing the psychological methods used to support identity reconstruction, address trauma, and foster ethical, voluntary engagement with services among individuals facing homelessness.
Name of Sponsoring Organization(s): Locations for the support group & funders:
Mariposa Center: https://www.mariposacenter.org
The HUB Resource Center: https://thehubresourcecenter.org
The City of Costa Mesa & The City of Newport Beach: https://www.costamesaca.gov/trending/costa-mesa-bridge-shelter
