Treating Victims Of Torture And Violence

Torture is among the most disturbing and psychologically devastating of human behaviors. It dehumanizes its victims, leaving them with serious and lasting psychological wounds. Like other psychological trauma, torture frequently leaves in its wake denial and silence among both perpetrators and their victims. This communicative void creates a public and mental block that can make treatment of torture survivors very difficult. Treating Victims of Torture and Violence is the definitive manual for therapists treating victims of torture, prisoners of war, and casualties of forced migration. Divided into five sections dealing with basic concepts of torture--violence and aggression, the torture syndrome, psychotherapeutic treatment, the cultural psychology of torture syndrome, and cultural psychological treatment-- Treating Victims of Torture and Violence employs both classic psychoanalytic and cognitive- behavioral methods. Realizing that torture victims are frequently from different cultures than those of their therapists, Peter Elsass provides in-depth aid to therapists dealing with a multicultural clientele.

Since its beginnings in the 1970s, the field of torture rehabilitation has grown rapidly. A growing awareness about the practice of torture (more than 100 countries today practice government-sanctioned torture) and its effects on victims is leading to an increasing number of dedicated treatment centers. The health care professionals on the staffs of these centers need the best, most up-to-date information and advice they can get. This book delivers it. Caring for Victims of Torture contains all the collective wisdom of some of the most respected international experts in the treatment of victims of government torture -- all distinguished physicians -- including pioneers in the field of traumatic stress. Contributors discuss the most recent advances in knowledge about government-sanctioned torture and offer practical approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of torture victims. Organized into six main sections, this annotated volume provides an overview of the history and politics of torture and rehabilitation; guidance in identifying and defining the sequelae of torture; a framework for assessment and treatment; specific treatment interventions; and a discussion of ethical implications. In the final section, physicians working in the field offer firsthand accounts and address how they are trying to balance politics with caregiving. Focusing on the physician's role, this book is chiefly a clinical guide. But for advanced-level students, it serves as a thorough, up-to-date text and reference work. Religious leaders, lawyers, politicians, human rights advocates, and torture victims themselves will find it a valuable resource as well.

A classic publication in this field which serves as a scholarly yet very practical resource.

Torture is among the most disturbing and psychologically devastating of human behaviors. It dehumanizes its victims, leaving them with serious and lasting psychological wounds. Like other psychological trauma, torture frequently leaves in its wake denial and silence among both perpetrators and their victims. This communicative void creates a public and mental block that can make treatment of torture survivors very difficult. Treating Victims of Torture and Violence is the definitive manual for therapists treating victims of torture, prisoners of war, and casualties of forced migration. Divided into five sections dealing with basic concepts of torture--violence and aggression, the torture syndrome, psychotherapeutic treatment, the cultural psychology of torture syndrome, and cultural psychological treatment-- Treating Victims of Torture and Violence employs both classic psychoanalytic and cognitive- behavioral methods. Realizing that torture victims are frequently from different cultures than those of their therapists, Peter Elsass provides in-depth aid to therapists dealing with a multicultural clientele.

"An outstanding collection that brings an extraordinary international perspective to the growing literature on the treatment of the survivors of torture." -- New England Journal of Medicine

In 1997 the National Institute of Mental Health assembled a working group of international experts to address the mental health consequences of torture and related violence and trauma; report on the status of scientific knowledge; and include research recommendations with implications for treatment, services, and policy development. This book, dedicated to those who experience the horrors of torture and those who work to end it, is based on that report.

Mental health problems among asylum seekers and refugees are becoming a public issue, but awareness of this problem among the mental health community is relatively low. Although advances have been made in the provision of innovative mental health services for asylum seekers and refuges with PTSD, they are not systemized, and not widely known to professionals in the field. A publication offering practical guidelines for the treatment of torture victims and political refugees does not exist. Broken Spirits aims to bring together the works of the most respected mental health professionals - from the U.S. and abroad - and make available the most current knowledge on complex PTSD, forced migration and cultural sensitivity in diagnosis and treatment.