What do trauma workers experience when assisting refugee survivors of torture and trauma? A narrative inquiry.

Abstract

Refugee narratives of torture and trauma can have profound impacts on refugee trauma workers. This narrative inquiry aimed to explore the lived experiences of the impacts of providing therapeutic interventions to refugees. The purposive sample consisted of 19 therapists who had provided interventions to refugees for at least 1 year. Data generated by semistructured interviews augmented by photo elicitation were analysed utilizing a three phased narrative analysis including narrative construction, analysis of narratives, and narrative configuration. When participants told their unique stories as they interpreted their journeys assisting refugee survivors, two distinct narratives emerged: A narrative of surviving and thriving, and a narrative of striving and yielding. Upon closer examination these narratives generated five interconnected plotlines: Self-transcending, being optimistic, championing, being valiant, and being vanquished. The findings give voice to therapists who have been forced to quit the field despite their commitment and strong desire to continue highlight possible organizational issues and query the dominant binary of trauma versus adversarial growth. To mitigate adverse impacts that acknowledge the need for trauma organizations to accept responsibility to sustain their staff, we recommend the introduction of proactive strategies at a systemic level. Public Significance StatementThis narrative inquiry describes the impacts of working with refugee survivors as a fluid, intersecting continuum between satisfaction of ongoing clinical engagement and incapacity in the clinical field. The study suggests that current strategies to support refugee trauma workers place disproportionate responsibility of managing these impacts on the individual and recommends the need for additional research to inform alternative perspectives at a systemic level.

Assisting refugee survivors of torture and trauma: An existential perspective

“…The narrative format in the original study (Fernandes et al, 2023), which explored trauma therapists' lived experiences of the impacts of assisting refugees and encouraged participants to share their professional journeys, unveiled multiple existential concerns that we did not intend to directly address. The aim of the present paper is to report a secondary analysis that explored and reflected on encounters with these complex concerns.…”