Migrant trauma demands alternative therapies
- 8 years ago
Europe's migrant crisis is forcing the advancement of new psychological therapies that go beyond existing treatments to help victims not of one traumatic event, but of multiple traumas such as rape, war and torture.
Among the hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Syria, Afghanistan and other war-torn areas, significant numbers are likely to have severe psychiatric illnesses, including complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder , according to studies in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Deploying mainstream therapies designed for victims of single-event trauma in stable, well-funded settings - such as returning soldiers or car crash survivors - will not tackle this migrant mental health crisis effectively, specialists say.
Italian psychotherapist Aurelia Barbieri is one of a handful of volunteer mental health experts on Europe's front line.
Working with charity Medecins Sans Frontieres in makeshift arrival camps in Sicily, she gives what she calls "psychological first aid" to migrants arriving after months or years making their escape through the desert, through Libya, across the sea.
Among the hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Syria, Afghanistan and other war-torn areas, significant numbers are likely to have severe psychiatric illnesses, including complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder , according to studies in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Deploying mainstream therapies designed for victims of single-event trauma in stable, well-funded settings - such as returning soldiers or car crash survivors - will not tackle this migrant mental health crisis effectively, specialists say.
Italian psychotherapist Aurelia Barbieri is one of a handful of volunteer mental health experts on Europe's front line.
Working with charity Medecins Sans Frontieres in makeshift arrival camps in Sicily, she gives what she calls "psychological first aid" to migrants arriving after months or years making their escape through the desert, through Libya, across the sea.