Sustaining Therapists Assisting Refugee Survivors of Torture and Trauma

Abstract

Refugees endure cumulative traumatic incidents which deeply affect their sense of safety, identity, support systems, and meaning. When therapists assisting refugees consistently listen to their narratives, they are profoundly impacted. Research highlighting the mutual effects of conflict, war, extreme violence and human rights abuses on both refugee survivors and their therapists is limited. The purpose of this research is to enhance understanding of the impacts of the trials encountered by therapists who assist refugee survivors of torture and trauma, and to contribute towards the development of strategies to support them.

The initial Integrative Review found that existing literature lacked depth and conceptual clarity. The complex experiences of refugee trauma therapists were often oversimplified. A need for deeper exploration was identified.

Guided by these findings the second study, a Photo-elicited Narrative Inquiry was designed to facilitate exploration of underlying processes and to enrich understanding of the lived experiences of refugee trauma therapists. The findings suggested that being forced to re-evaluate familiar belief systems induced intense existential moments.

The secondary analysis which re-analyzed the same dataset from an existential perspective, uncovered intense moments described as ‘a dark night of the soul’, ‘the paradox of life and death’, ‘unhomeliness’, and ‘a falling’. Circumnavigating these concerns influenced how refugee therapists coped with unique work-related challenges.

The follow-up study in which therapists described a challenging work-related situation, identified that therapists drew on a conventional psychotherapy master narrative, consistent with conventional principles of psychotherapy, and an extended psychotherapy master narrative which integrated alternative culturally responsive treatment approaches.

This research recommends establishing peer groups or communities of practice backed by organizational support.