O'Brien, Charlotte and Charura, Divine ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3509-9392 (2024) Advancing Transculturally-Informed, Humanistic Therapeutic Practice for Refugees and Asylum Seekers Presenting with Embodied Trauma. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 24 (4). pp. 1612-1631.

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Abstract

A record 122.6 million people have sought refuge and asylum across the globe in 2024, exacerbated by emergencies in the Ukraine, Sudan, Afghanistan and by the Israel-Hamas war. This number is set to rise to over 130 million people in refugee situations in 59 countries this year alone. With refugees suffering from higher rates of mental health difficulties than the general population, there is an urgent need to provide an expedient, socially just, transculturally-informed pathway into humanistic psychological care services for these individuals. The objectives of this study are to explore how therapeutic practitioners are working effectively with displaced individuals presenting with embodied trauma, their experiences of transcultural approaches to therapeutic work, and the impact of working alongside psychopharmacological medications in this commonly overprescribed client group. A qualitative semi-structured interview was operationalised with 12 therapeutic practitioners who have worked with displaced individuals, utilising reflexive thematic analysis of the data. The results highlight a critical need for an updated transculturally-informed, humanistic, person-centred pathway of care for each displaced individual. This includes a humanistic, transculturally updated assessment, formulation and treatment plan, and routine outcome measures which consider the client’s cultural context of origin, language, universally understood emotions, cultural strengths and preferences for therapy, a psychopharmacological review, and the use of a holistic constellation of care services for displaced individuals.
Keywords: Transculturally-Informed Care, Humanistic, Refugees, Asylum-Seekers, Trauma.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	Published
DOI:	10.1002/capr.12810
School/Department:	School of Education, Language and Psychology
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/10469

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