Crisis intervention and post-disaster practitioners have recommended nontraditional services such as action oriented strategies and the building of new social support networks. Guidelines for establishing and operating such groups are sparse and not organized into a comprehensive approach. A literature search did identify several rationales to support the concept of using new social support networks in contrast to existing and ongoing natural groups. New groups composed of disaster survivors allow for unique opportunities to share and cathart at an empathic level not possible even with family members not impacted by the disaster. Disasters tend to disrupt existing networks, so emerging survivor groups often create a unique mutual aid system. Newly formed groups probably have a greater receptivity to action-oriented and structured intervention efforts. These conceptual issues were brought together in a comprehensive strategy of post-disaster group counseling following a series of devastating tornados in rural eastern North Carolina which occurred on March 28, 1984. The clinical issues and themes which were expressed in the four groups were categorized and summarized. It was concluded that the several guidelines which were identified from previous studies and combined to create the strategy employed helped generate the breadth and abundance of themes and issues which were observed in the group sessions. (Author)