Counselling Afghanistan Torture and Trauma Survivors
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The development of services to meet the needs of Afghan refugees, most of whom have been traumatised by years of war and internecine violence, requires a sophisticated blend of counselling strategies and culturally-informed pragmatism. Multi-level intervention, targeting different levels of the client’s individual and social systems has been utilised effectively with Afghan c1ients. However, counselling is a new concept for many Afghans and for this intervention to be useful it needs to be well explained and ‘translated’ into culturally appropriate terms. This lecture outlines the approach that has been found most useful in dealing with this extraordinary client population, with a particular focus on cross-cultural counselling. It also includes a brief presentation on the history, people and cultures of Afghanistan.