Mental Health Resources for Afghan refugee arrivals from Center for Victims of Torture
At a clinic in St. Paul, MN CVT is planning to provide “Level 1 Groups,” similar to the CVT International Services Group Counseling model, with some addaptations. CVT also has consulted with UHHR, which serves Afghan clients. More information on the model:
Restoring Hope and Dignity: Manual for Group Counseling: CVT’s Restoring Hope and Dignity manual describes CVT’s group counseling model and contains detailed principles, instructions and exercises. The model described in this manual is intended for use in humanitarian or low-resourced settings with individuals who are experiencing marked distress and reduced daily function due to having experienced extreme stress related to war, torture or human rights violations. The specialized therapeutic intervention outlined in this manual is a 10-session group counseling model that should be delivered by trained local counselors who are receiving ongoing clinical supervision and training. Click to request the manual.
A few addtional resources:
- Improving Well-Being for Refugees in Primary Care: A Toolkit for Providers: CVT’s Healing Hearts program uses a holistic, team-based approach to bring specialized care to Karen clients in primary care settings. The team’s comprehensive manual gives providers the necessary tools to improve treatment plans for patients who have lived through traumatic experiences. Order the toolkit here.The Service Provider Directory from a southern border CoP and the MHPSS field guide from UNICEF, which could be usefully adapted for Afghan arrivals.
- There was also a presentation for humanitarian parole sponsors a few months ago, organized by Sarah Krause at RCUSA. The presentation focused on referrals and resources for parolees and parole sponsor families. Sarah would have some resources in this area: [email protected].
- There is also particular concern for the providers called to the various army forts to support processing. We have a few legal services providers from our training who were called on emergency to go lead legal processing. Secondary trauma and burnout are big concerns. Attached is the resource CVT developed after the Capitol attacks on responding to acute trauma. If you would like more resources for lawyers, volunteers, social workers, resettlement workers who are staffing the processing centers, Leora Hudak [email protected] can share additional resources.