Facing the Traumatic Field in the Clinical and Social Work with Forced Migrants Through a Psychodynamic Perspective: from “Refugee Trauma” to the Clinic of Social Links

Abstract

This article aims to rethink the clinical and social work with forced migrants through the concept of “field” as it is described in the context of Bionian psychoanalysis. The proposed approach goes beyond the individual trauma of the refugee, to arrive at a clinic of the “traumatic field” that includes, but also overcomes, the dyadic relationship searching for the link between intra-psychic, inter-psychic and social dimensions. The work with mediation “devices”, the dream field, and the group as a social witness will be discussed as operational tools of a clinical social practice of intervention extended to relevant emerging social contexts.