Control group
traumatic
Participants assigned to the control group received four educational handouts on an expressive writing technique via email or mail at times corresponding to each of the four sessions in the intervention group. Handout one highlighted the benefits of writing about life experiences. Handout two focused on exploring emotions and thoughts about traumatic experiences through writing. Handout three outlined ideas for developing a writing practice. Participants were asked to write about anything of personal relevance or importance to them. Handout four focused on writing about experiences and expressing emotions through writing. Additional prompts to engage in writing techniques were not provided. A control group allowed for a realistic examination of enrollment and retention rates and randomization procedures. 