Chapter 3: Core Competencies in Working with Survivors

Healing the Hurt: A Guide for Developing Services for Torture Survivors was developed by The National Capacity Building Project at The Center for Victims of Torture for practitioners who may or may not have worked previously with torture survivors. It is a multidisciplinary guide that addresses some basic considerations when working with this population. This handbook is a primer, and it should not take the place of more in-depth training in torture treatment. We hope you find this resource helpful in your work with torture survivors. Various chapters are referred to under Providers Resources at HealTorture.org. Access to all handbook chapters is available by downloading the PDF files.

You can view and download the full book here or scroll down to view and download Chapter Three.

Chapter Three

When providers are familiar with and respect the culture, language, and trauma experience of their clients, they create bridges of understanding. In order to provide appropriate and effective services, professionals need to develop a degree of expertise in the following four core fields of competency: KNOWLEDGE of the life experiences and resettlement issues of refugees and survivors of torture before, during, and after the violence; COMPREHENSION of torture and its long-term effects on survivors, their families, their community, and professionals who work with them; CULTURAL COMPETENCE with traumatized people; WORKING EFFECTIVELY with interpreters. This chapter provides information on the four competency areas that apply to providers in all disciplines and service domains.