Abstract
Today, the world represents a battlefield between people of diverse nationalistic groups and different political regimes, where the fight is often over access to natural resources. As a result, many women are forced to flee their countries due to the increased persecution, violence, and torture that often follow civil conflicts. Many of these women require counselling to address the psychological impact of their refugee experiences. This chapter is a story about the refugee Azra and her mental health concerns that resulted from the trauma she suffered during the civil war in Bosnia. This chapter is also a story of the therapeutic relationship between Azra and her counsellor, Dr. Ivana, including the descriptions of the initial and subsequent counselling sessions through a culture-infused counselling lens that includes social advocacy. Dr. Ivana’s personal reflections regarding Azra’s presenting concerns, counsellor factors, and the role of social justice in the counselling process are discussed. Lastly, implications for counsellors related to assessment, counsellor education, and promotion of social justice are presented. Questions for reflection and discussion as well as learning activities are introduced to help the readers orient themselves to a culture-infused counselling (Collins & Arthur, 2010a, 2010b, see Chap. 2) lens with refugees.
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Đurašković, I. (2018). Intersections of Gender and Refugee Experience: Through Azra’s Eyes. In: Arthur, N. (eds) Counselling in Cultural Contexts. International and Cultural Psychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00090-5_9
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