EACLIPT - Lessons for trauma treatment and psychotherapy delivery

Responding to therapeutic needs of refugees: Many refugees from war areas flee to Europe. Due to traumatic events they experience in their home countries and on perilous journeys, and finally due to adverse conditions in exile, a large proportion of refugees present with posttraumatic stress disorder and depression. However, the current theories and treatments of trauma-related disorders are not designed to respond to refugees’ presentations. Moreover, the current way the treatment is provided is not well suited to meet the needs of refugees. Experiences of refugees from war-torn countries help to challenge some core assumptions and prompt us to adapt the current thinking about psychopathology, therapy, and treatment delivery. The lecture is followed by a discussion hosted by Agnieszka Popiel, M.D., Ph.D. / Associate Professor, co-founder and co-head of SWPS University’s Clinic of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy. We focus on the following issue: If evidence-based practice (EBP) is defined as the integration of the best available research with clinical expertise in the context of patient characteristics, culture, and preferences (according to the American Psychological Association) - delivering treatment to refugees presents a challenge for a (quite idealistic) equilibrium of EBP. People who have suffered so much deserve the best available treatment. Our discussion focuses on questions that are emerging when clinicians equipped with evidence-based treatments face people fleeing wars.