Abstract
In 1986, the author of this chapter started to work as a psychotherapist at the Social Psychiatric Service for Refugees1 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The staff of this service had years of experience with the use of psychotherapeutic techniques with refugees, but very little of it had been documented. Therefore, the author started to make reports of all therapeutic interviews he conducted, and to collect written material about the problems of refugees and other victims of trauma and the experiences in treating them. At the same time, the author consulted a selection of the available literature on psychology and psychiatry to find possibilities for making extrapolations that could help to enlarge the insight into the problems of refugees. The confrontation between the author’s six years of practical experience,2 the knowledge he found in the professional literature, and the knowledge and experience he encountered in numerous discussions with colleagues working in the same or a closely related field resulted in a body of practical know-how3 (Van der Veer, 1992, 1993).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Agger, I. (1988). Psychological aspects of torture with special emphasis on sexual torture: Sequels and treatment perspectives. Copenhagen: Institute of Cultural Sociology.
Alexander, A. A., Klein, M. H., Workneh, F., and Miller, M. H. (1981). Psychotherapy and the foreign student. In P. B. Pederson, J. G. Draguns, W. J. Lonner, J. E. Trimble (Eds.), Counselling across cultures (rev. and expanded ed., pp. 226 - 243 ). Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii.
American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders ( 4th ed. ). Washington, DC: Author.
Baker, N. G. (1981). Social work through an interpreter. Social Work, 26, 391 - 397.
Brown, L. S. (1986). From alienation to connection: Feminist therapy with posttraumatic stress disorder. Women Therapy, 5, 101 - 106.
Cancelmo, J. A., Millân, F., and Vazquez, C. I. (1990). Culture and symptomatology—The role of personal meaning in diagnosis and treatment: A case study. The American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 50, 137 - 149.
Coelho, G. V. (1982). The foreign students sojourn as a high risk situation: The “culture-shock” phenomenon re-examined. In R. C. Nann (Ed.), Uprooting and surviving (pp. 101 - 107 ). Dordrecht: D. Reidel.
Dahl, C. (1989). Some problems of cross-cultural psychotherapy with refugees seeking treatment. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 49, 19 - 32.
De Anda, D. (1984). Bicultural socialization: Factors affecting the minority experience. Social Work, 29, 101-107.
Denley, J. (1987). Personal communication, cited in J. Reid, T. Strong. Torture and trauma (p. 96 ). Sydney: Cumberland College of Health Services.
Eisenbruch, M., and Handelman, L. (1989). Development of an explanatory model of illness schedule for Cambodian refugee patients. Journal of Refugee Studies, 2, 243 - 256.
Giel, R. (1984). Vreemde zielen: Een.sociaalpsychiatrische verkenning in andere culturen. Meppel, The Netherlands: Boom.
Kabela, M. (no date). Transculturele aspecten van depressie. Haarlem, The Netherlands: Elizabethsgasthuis.
Keilson, H. (1979). Sequentielle Traumatisierung bei Kindern. Stuttgart, Germany: Ferdinand Enke Verlag.
Kinzie, J. D. (1978). Lessons from cross-cultural psychotherapy. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 32, 110-120.
Knudsen, J. C. (1991). Therapeutic strategies and strategies for refugee coping. Journal of Refugee Studies, 4, 21 - 38.
Kortmann, F. (1986). Problemen in transculturele comrnunicatie. Assen, The Netherlands: Van Gorcum.
Lee, E., and Lu, F. (1989). Assessment and treatment of Asian-American survivors of mass violence. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 2, 93 - 120.
Marcos, I.. R. (1979). Effects of interpreters on the evaluation of psychopathology in non-English speaking patients. American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 171 - 174.
Mollica, R. F., and Son, L. (1988). Cultural dimensions in the evaluation and treatment of sexual trauma: An overview. Unpublished study.
Pederson, P. B. (1981). The cultural inclusiveness of counselling. In P. B. Pederson, j. G. Draguns, W. J. Lonner, J. E. Trimble (Eds.), Counselling across Cultures (rev. and expanded ed., pp. 22 - 58 ). Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii.
Pentz-Moller, V., Hertnansen, A., Bentsen, E., and Knudsen, I. H. (1988). Interpretation in the rehabilitation of torture victims at the RCT Copenhagen: International Research and Rehabilitation Center for ‘Torture Victims.
Price, J. (1975). Foreign language interpreting in psychiatric practice. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 9, 263 - 267.
Putsch, R. W. (1985). Cross-cultural communication: The special case of interpreters in health care. Journal of the American Medical Association, 254, 3344 - 3348.
Rendon, M. (1989). Discussion of “some problems of cross-cultural psychotherapy with refugees seeking therapy,” by Carl-Ivar Dahl. The American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 49, 45 - 50.
Sabin, J. E. (1975). Translating despair. American Journal of Psychiatry, 132, 197 - 199.
Srinivasa, D. K., and Trivedi, S. (1982). Knowledge and attitude of mental diseases in a rural community of South India. Social Science and Medicine, 16, 1635 - 1639.
Sue, I)., and Sue, S. (1987). Cultural factors in the clinical assessment of Asian Americans. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 479 - 487.
Sundberg, N. D. (1981). Research and research hypotheses about effectiveness in intercultural counselling. In P. B. Pederson, J. G. Draguns, W. J. Lonner, j. E. Trimble (Eds.), Counselling across cultures (rev. and expanded ed., pp. 304 - 342 ). Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii.
Teter, H., Mauldin, D., Nhol, S., Conkin, D., and Sum, S. (1987). Treatment through training: A Cambodian mental health workshop. San Francisco: International Institute of San Francisco.
Tsui, P., and Schultz, G. L. (1985). Failure of rapport: Why psychotherapeutic engagement fails in the treatment of Asian clients. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 55, 561 - 569.
Van der Veer, G. (1992). Counselling and therapy with refugees: Psychological problems of victims of war, torture and repression. New York: Wiley.
Van der Veer, G. (1993). Psychotherapy with refugees: An exploration. Amsterdam: Stichting voor Culturele Studies.
Vladar Rivero, V. (1992). The use of psychotropic medication. In G. van der Veer (Ed.), Counselling and therapy with refugees: Psychological problems of victims of war, torture and repression. New York: Wiley.
Vontress, C. E. (1981). Racial and ethnic barriers in counselling. In P. B. Pederson, J. G. Draguns, W. J. Lonner, J. E. Trimble (Eds.), Counselling across cultures (rev. and expanded ed., pp. 87 - 107 ). Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii.
Westermeyer, J. (1989). Cross-cultural core for PTSD: Research, training, and service needs for the future. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 2, 515 - 536.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1995 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
van der Veer, G. (1995). Psychotherapeutic Work with Refugees. In: Kleber, R.J., Figley, C.R., Gersons, B.P.R. (eds) Beyond Trauma. The Plenum Series on Stress and Coping. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9421-2_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9421-2_9
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-9423-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-9421-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive