The EMDR approach used as a tool to provide psychological help to refugees and asylum seekers

The aim of our work is to describe the psychotherapeutic intervention for a particular clinical population: refugees and asylum seekers. These individuals live in a state of great vulnerability. For them, migrating was not a choice, but a decision forced by the particular conditions in their country of origin (wars, religious or political persecution, etc.). They have often been tortured, suffered material deprivation, witnessed violence and lost dear ones. They are affected by cultural isolation, the inability to return to their country and concerns over the fate of family members back home (Aragon, Pucci, Mazzetti, Geraci, 2012; Miller & Rasmussen, 2010). Silove, Sinnerbrink, Field, Manicavasagar, Steel (1997), in a survey of asylum-seekers living in a community Resource Centre, showed that as many as 79% of them had experienced traumatic events such as witnessing killings, being attacked or suffering torture or imprisonment.

Book Section

English

Paola Castelli Gattinara
Antonio Onofri
Cristina Angelini

Gattinara, P. C., Onofri, A., & Angelini, C. (2017). The EMDR approach used as a tool to provide psychological help to refugees and asylum seekers. In M. Nickerson's (Ed.), Cultural Competence and Healing Culturally-Based Trauma with EMDR Therapy: Innovative Strategies and Protocols (pp. 129-144). New York, NY: Springer Publishing