189 SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE Table 4. Changes in psychological status due to the Tree of Life. Mean Standard deviation Total sample (Pre-SRQ20) (n=110) Workshop Participants (Pre-SRQ20) (n=73) Follow-up Sample (Pre-SRQ20) (n=33) Follow-up Sample (Post-SRQ20) (n=33) 10.77 10.85 12.55 8.36* 3.63 3.82 3.00 4.60 *) p=0.005 Table 5. Responses on follow-up interview. Change noted Number Coping better Experiencing difficulties No difficulties Economic difficulties Health problems 10 8 4 13 1 56% 44% 22% 72% 6% lost fear and have a positive attitude”. It was also gratifying to see that the oft-reported consequence of social isolation had been remedied in the majority of cases, and that the one aim of the tree of Life, to create mutual support groups, was achieved. Clearly the feedback from participants indicates that they have benefited in many ways from the workshop. Their comments record feeling courageous and more focused in their lives, that they have been relieved by telling their stories, and many recorded being able to forgive their perpetrators. They have understood that an effect of trauma is a forced sense of isolation, and have found themselves being able to connect and communicate with their communities and families. The fact that they have kept meeting Table 6. Positive changes noted on follow-up interview. Change noted Number Do you think that the Tree of Life workshop helped you in any way? 18 100% Did you learn anything new from the workshop: What was that? 18 100% Has anything changed in the way that you feel about the bad things that happened to you? 18 100% Do you meet others from your Tree of Life group? 17 94% Meet often 13 72% Meet occasionally 4 22% T O R T U R E Vol um e 19 , N um b er 3 , 2 00 9 of the 33 follow-up cases. This involved the completion of a follow-up evaluation questionnaire, in which a number of open-ended questions were asked.f Again, for this smaller subset of the follow-up group the difference in the pre and post SRQ scores was statistically significant, with 39% improving below the threshold for “caseness”.g However, this was a group still living in adversity, and, as can be seen from Table 5, nearly half were still experiencing difficulties in life, with economic problems unsurprisingly being the major difficulty reported. However, the quantitative changes were the most interesting, as can be seen from Table 6. Everyone felt that the Tree of Life process had helped them, had helped them find something new about themselves, and had changed how they felt about their previous experience of organized violence and torture. The kinds of comments are summarized in Appendix 2. For example, participants stated that “I can leave the past behind”, “I can forgive and look to the future”, and “I have