Cultural Factors in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Traumatized Immigrants: Challenges, Concerns, and Solutions: Evidence-Based Trauma-Centred Psychotherapy for Refugee and Asylum-Seeking Patients
摘要
There is a significant need for trauma-focused psychotherapy. This is particularly true for refugees, many of whom suffer from trauma-related disorders. If these symptoms are not treated, they can become chronic and permanently restrict quality of life and the ability to work and they can lead to behaviour that endangers themselves or others. Preventing this is of great importance both for those affected and for the host society. Treatment should be supplemented by psychosocial support, as this significantly reduces the symptoms of illness in intercultural settings. However, it is essential that every individual suffering from trauma is offered trauma-focused therapy as part of their treatment. In this chapter, the author demonstrates the feasibility of this approach across various methods, even with different basic psychotherapeutic training backgrounds. This chapter deals with three interrelated themes: trauma-focused psychotherapies (1), their scientific evidence (2), and the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers with one of these therapy methods (3). These are three important aspects that I will briefly address before describing a few selected trauma-focused therapies.