This article describes the treatment of a severely traumatized teenage refugee. Effective treatment was made possible by the ongoing support of Social Services and the patient's generally high level of function. The discussion focuses on the importance of considering both trauma and loss; the use of ritual; pacing of treatment; and professional boundaries. The author concludes that: effective treatment can be provided for traumatized refugees in local NHS facilities; treatment should attend both to trauma and to loss syndromes; therapeutic rituals may be extremely helpful, but must conform to the belief systems of the patient; successful intervention is made much easier by the active support of Social Services and when the patient is able to function satisfactorily in day-to-day life.
Cunningham, M.
, & Silove, D. (1993). Principles of treatment and service development for torture and trauma survivors. In J. Wilson, & B. Raphael (Eds.), International handbook of traumatic stress syndromes (pp. 751-762). New York: Plenum.
2.
Danielli, Y.
(1993). Diagnostic and therapeutic use of the multigenerational family tree in working with survivors and children of survivors of the nazi holocaust. In J. Wilson & B. Raphael (Eds.), International handbook of traumatic stress syndromes (pp. 889-898). New York: Plenum.
3.
Imber-Black, E.
, Roberts, J., & Whiting, R. (Eds.). (1988). Rituals in families and family therapy. New York: Norton.
4.
Jaffa, T.
(1993). Therapy with families who have experienced torture. In J. Wilson, & B. Raphael (Eds.), International handbook of traumatic stress syndromes (pp. 715-723). New York: Plenum.
5.
Jaffa, T.
(1994). A community mental health service for adolescents. ACPP Review and Newsletter, 16(2), 64-69.
6.
Lindy, J.
(1993). Focal psychoanalytic psychotherapy of post-traumatic stress disorder. In J. Wilson, & B. Raphael (Eds.), International handbook of traumatic stress syndromes (pp. 803-809). New York: Plenum.
7.
Ochberg, F.
(1993). Posttraumatic therapy. In J. Wilson, & B. Raphael (Eds.), International handbook of traumatic stress syndromes (pp. 773-783). New York: Plenum.
8.
Pynoos, R.
, & Nader, K. (1993). Issues in the treatment of posttraumatic stress in children and adolescents. In J. Wilson, & B. Raphael (Eds.), International handbook of traumatic stress syndromes (pp. 535-549). New York: Plenum.
9.
Shamai, M.
(1995). Using rituals in couple therapy in cases of wife battering. Journal of Family Therapy17(4), 383-395.
10.
Turner, S.
, & Gorst-Unsworth, C. (1993). Psychological sequelae of torture. In J. Wilson, & B. Raphael (Eds.), International handbook of traumatic stress syndromes (pp. 703-713). New York: Plenum.
11.
Wilson, J.
(1989). Trauma, transformation and healing: An integrative approach to theory, research and posttraumatic therapy. New York: Brunner/Mazel.
12.
Woodcock, J.
(1995). Healing rituals with families in exile. Journal of Family Therapy, 17(4), 397-409.
