The Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (HPRT) pioneered the development and adaptation of psychiatric screening instruments to assess and identify the degree and type of trauma and torture suffered by survivors of mass violence and natural disasters and common trauma-related mental health disorders, such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety. This guide has been designed for scientific historians, clinical practitioners and public health policy makers and provides the historical context for the development of these instruments, scientific review and a practical guide for their adaptation and utilization in new situations of mass violence and torture.