Abstract:Many studies have identified the importance of social and familial support in the treatment of veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The purpose of this study was to review the development of PTSD from cognitive, behavioral, dissociative, and social perspectives and examines how to best incorporate families into treatment. It is suggested that multifamily psychoeducational groups (MFPGs) are a viable treatment for PTSD, and they are evaluated in terms of their rationale and empirical status. The rationale for MFPGs includes the bidirectional relationship between family functioning and PTSD, the success of MFPGs with other disorders, the potential of MFPGs to help destigmatize PTSD among military families, the low cost and accessibility of group treatments, and the potential of MFPGs to facilitate retention and compliance with treatment. Empirically, the Reaching Out to Educate and Assist Caring, Healthy (REACH) program has the strongest support among the available MFPGs. However, in applying a contemporary model of evaluating empirical status, it was found that REACH lacks strong empirical support. It was concluded that the REACH MFPG is a viable treatment for PTSD; however, it should be followed by an evidence-based individual treatment if the patient still has significant symptoms by the end of the family-based treatment. Additional clinical trials comparing MFPGs with individual treatments would greatly benefit clinical decision making. Finally, another fruitful area of inquiry is to search for subgroups of PTSD patients for whom MFPGS may be particularly beneficial.