Mental Health Resources

Torture survivors engage in psychological services to pursue a wide range of goals, from single symptom reduction to addressing the complex effects of torture on their families and communities. Psychological effects of torture vary considerably. Likewise, there is wide variation in the types of assistance sought to address such effects, depending on a host of factors ranging from service accessibility to beliefs about health and healing.

487 Resources Available

Browse all Mental Health Resources

Assessment and Treatment of Traumatic Brain/Head Injury in Survivors of Torture

Social Services Resources

Torture occurs within a cultural and social context. It breaks the connections between individuals and their social environment. It separates the bonds of communities. Social work interventions, therefore, are directed at individuals, their families and immediate environments, community, social, and functional groups, and policies and systems. These are accomplished through direct service, resource development, community interventions, education and training, research, and public policy work.

283 Resources Available

Browse all Social Services Resources

Integrative Social Work with Asylum Seekers and Traumatized Migrants

Legal Resources

Attorneys encounter torture survivors with a variety of legal needs. Frequently, however, the survivor’s initial and most pressing legal problem involves immigration matters, such as asylum, family reunification, or defense from removal (deportation). Because safety is crucial to the survivor’s ability to engage fully in torture treatment services, the asylum process is integral to rehabilitation.

278 Resources Available

Browse all Legal Resources

Medical Resources

Survivors of torture often present for care in medical settings, and sometimes in torture treatment programs. The medical portion of HealTorture.org is primarily, but not exclusively, geared to primary care providers (PCPs), including family doctors, internists, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. Other staff members in medical settings such as nurses and medical assistants can also facilitate survivors’ healing. Survivors frequently present to gynecologists (due to genital trauma, pelvic pain, etc.), cardiologists (persistent chest pain), gastroenterologists (persistent abdominal pain), and neurologists (intractable headaches and history of traumatic brain injury). Many survivors have gotten great relief of symptoms from physical therapists and practitioners of yoga and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

562 Resources Available

Browse all Medical Resources

Assessment and Treatment of Traumatic Brain/Head Injury in Survivors of Torture

Integrative Care Resources

19 Resources Available

Browse all Integrative Care Resources

Improving Well-Being for Refugees in Primary Care: A Toolkit for Providers

Administration Resources

Resources for practitioners in operations and administration who are serving survivors of torture are as follows: development, integrated care, evaluation, technology, training, working with interpreters, and self-care.

284 Resources Available

Browse all Administration Resources

AsylumWorks Fellowship Training

Available to full members only

Program Evaluation Resources

Resources for all staff serving survivors of torture to use program evaluation to set the direction of the program, assess the impact of their work, and improve care. For those with dedicated Evaluation and/or Data Management staff, there is a Roadmap to Data Analysis series for an introduction to inferential statistics and Client Data Toolkit series on identifying and implementing a client data management system for your organizational needs.

70 Resources Available

Browse all Program Evaluation Resources

Mental Health Resources

Torture survivors engage in psychological services to pursue a wide range of goals, from single symptom reduction to addressing the complex effects of torture on their families and communities. Psychological effects of torture vary considerably. Likewise, there is wide variation in the types of assistance sought to address such effects, depending on a host of factors ranging from service accessibility to beliefs about health and healing.

487 Resources Available

Browse all Mental Health Resources

Assessment and Treatment of Traumatic Brain/Head Injury in Survivors of Torture

Social Services Resources

Torture occurs within a cultural and social context. It breaks the connections between individuals and their social environment. It separates the bonds of communities. Social work interventions, therefore, are directed at individuals, their families and immediate environments, community, social, and functional groups, and policies and systems. These are accomplished through direct service, resource development, community interventions, education and training, research, and public policy work.

283 Resources Available

Browse all Social Services Resources

Integrative Social Work with Asylum Seekers and Traumatized Migrants

Legal Resources

Attorneys encounter torture survivors with a variety of legal needs. Frequently, however, the survivor’s initial and most pressing legal problem involves immigration matters, such as asylum, family reunification, or defense from removal (deportation). Because safety is crucial to the survivor’s ability to engage fully in torture treatment services, the asylum process is integral to rehabilitation.

278 Resources Available

Browse all Legal Resources

Medical Resources

Survivors of torture often present for care in medical settings, and sometimes in torture treatment programs. The medical portion of HealTorture.org is primarily, but not exclusively, geared to primary care providers (PCPs), including family doctors, internists, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. Other staff members in medical settings such as nurses and medical assistants can also facilitate survivors’ healing. Survivors frequently present to gynecologists (due to genital trauma, pelvic pain, etc.), cardiologists (persistent chest pain), gastroenterologists (persistent abdominal pain), and neurologists (intractable headaches and history of traumatic brain injury). Many survivors have gotten great relief of symptoms from physical therapists and practitioners of yoga and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

562 Resources Available

Browse all Medical Resources

Assessment and Treatment of Traumatic Brain/Head Injury in Survivors of Torture

Integrative Care Resources

19 Resources Available

Browse all Integrative Care Resources

Improving Well-Being for Refugees in Primary Care: A Toolkit for Providers

Administration Resources

Resources for practitioners in operations and administration who are serving survivors of torture are as follows: development, integrated care, evaluation, technology, training, working with interpreters, and self-care.

284 Resources Available

Browse all Administration Resources

AsylumWorks Fellowship Training

Available to full members only

Program Evaluation Resources

Resources for all staff serving survivors of torture to use program evaluation to set the direction of the program, assess the impact of their work, and improve care. For those with dedicated Evaluation and/or Data Management staff, there is a Roadmap to Data Analysis series for an introduction to inferential statistics and Client Data Toolkit series on identifying and implementing a client data management system for your organizational needs.

70 Resources Available

Browse all Program Evaluation Resources

Surviving Torture

Original Publication Date: February 4, 2014

Last Updated: April 2, 2023

Estimated Read Time: < 1 minute

by Richard Mollica, MD. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, 351;1. July 1, 2004. www.nejm.org(link is external)

More than 45 countries are currently suffering from the destruction caused by mass violence. The 20th century has been called the “refugee century,” with tens of millions of people violently displaced from their homes. Millions of these people have resettled in the United States, and refugees, asylum seekers, and illegal immigrants now commonly enter our health care institutions.

Surviving Torture by Richard F. Mollica, M.D.

Additional Resources