The research of systemic trauma can be defined in terms related to the study of three constructs: systemic, systems psychology, and trauma. This entry first reviews these three main ideas and then offers examples and recommendations for the trauma worker and researcher.

Systemic refers to a phenomenon that is spread throughout a system or whole entity, affecting a group or metaphysic such as the psyche, a bodily or organ system, an individual identity or physical body, a family system, a collective or organization, an ethnic group, a culture, market, government, state, nation, or even an entire biosphere or galaxy. Different levels of systems can be involved and might be referred to as micro-, meso-, and macro-systemic to begin to categorize systems effects that are interrelated, hierarchical, ...