Refugees' experiences of talking about past trauma to their therapist
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding refugees' experiences of disclosing past trauma to their therapist
IRAS ID
322482
Contact name
Alice Storey
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Surrey
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 2 days
Research summary
Research has identified that sharing personal experiences to others can be important in healing from past trauma. Refugees, however, may face many interpersonal challenges impacting their ability to talk to others about the past. This may be particularly true when engaging in psychological therapy where forming an open, trusting relationship is a key element of therapy. Evidence suggests difficulties with talking about the past may arise from a variety of pre and post migration factors, including negative self-beliefs impacting trust in others, differing cultural attitudes to disclosing, mistrust in authority figures and negative experiences of the Home Office interview. Whilst refugees experiences of disclosing in the Home Office interview has been investigated, there is a lack of research exploring disclosures in psychological therapy. Therefore, the current study aims to understand refugees' experiences of talking about the past to their therapist with the hope of informing how therapists can respond to these stories in a way that is sensitive to the unique experiences faced by refugees. The method used will be narrative analysis, using the River of Life method to guide semi-structured interviews with refugees. The River of Life method allows participants to narrate their experiences and depict this visually using the symbol of a river. The study would aim to recruit 4-6 refugees to interview face-to-face who have previously accessed psychological therapy.
REC name
Social Care REC
REC reference
23/IEC08/0004
Date of REC Opinion
22 Feb 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion