Case Report: Psychotherapy of a 10-year-old Afghani refugee with post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociative absences.

Details

Ressource 1Download: fpsyt-13-940862.pdf (613.18 [Ko])
State: Public
Version: Final published version
License: CC BY 4.0
Serval ID
serval:BIB_1FDBD8E1CECF
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Publication sub-type
Case report (case report): feedback on an observation with a short commentary.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Case Report: Psychotherapy of a 10-year-old Afghani refugee with post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociative absences.
Journal
Frontiers in psychiatry
Author(s)
Junod N., Sidiropoulou O., Schechter D.S.
ISSN
1664-0640 (Print)
ISSN-L
1664-0640
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2022
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
13
Pages
940862
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Case Reports
Publication Status: epublish
Abstract
Violence-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the context of war and terrorism has become an increasingly pressing public health issue relevant to refugee children and families. PTSD and related psychopathology in children can adversely affect all domains of development and, in particular, interfere with learning and socialization. When the experience of violent trauma and related loss is shared with the entire family, resulting impairment and distress may prevent caregivers from being psychologically available to process their traumatized children's emotional communication and otherwise meet their children's developmental needs. When children suffer from PTSD, it may be impossible to put their experience and related thoughts and feelings into words, let alone a coherent narrative. The latter difficulty can be even more pronounced when the child displays dissociative symptoms, possibly signaling a dissociative subtype of PTSD. Thus, the narrative within the child's play during psychotherapy becomes all the more important as an indicator of the child's internal world. This case report is an example both of evaluation and of psychotherapy that is both psychodynamic and trauma-informed with a 10-year-old Afghani boy who suffered the violent loss of his father at age of 3 years, leading to his immigration to Switzerland. This paper addresses the question of how the psychotherapist can accompany the child through the elaboration of his trauma and how the therapist can contribute to the co-construction of a coherent narrative of the child's experience and to the restoration of an intersubjective connection between the traumatized child and caregiver.
Keywords
dissociation, intersubjectivity, post-traumatic play, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), psychotherapy, refugee mental health
Pubmed
Web of science
Open Access
Yes
Create date
17/03/2023 17:11
Last modification date
25/11/2023 8:11
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