Our CTAR short course is open to everyone, professional or not, who either works in this field or is interested in it.
It is particularly relevant to people involved in charity, humanitarian, human rights, social justice, health, therapy, education, policy, arts and research sectors, as well as those who are considering entering the Refugee Care field.
Our online course will be delivered in five successive daily units of 2 hours each. Material will be available online in advance to registered participants to explore, and then, in the five live Zoom sessions there will be opportunities for maximum interaction with the three course leads, where participants will be able to ask questions, as well as share ideas, experiences, dilemmas and achievements.These five live sessions will take place between 12pm and 2pm (GMT) during five successive weekdays, enabling people from different time zones around the globe to participate.
The aim of the course is to introduce participants to the key features of the Refugee Care approach, beyond the traditional approaches that are either ‘trauma informed’ or ‘strengths based’. This approach, which has been offered at the postgraduate courses at the University of Essex since 2004, is firmly practice oriented, whilst it also provides incisive theoretical insights.
The main learning objectives of the course include the following:
- How to address human suffering without pathologising it.
- How to ‘be therapeutic’, wherever appropriate, instead of ‘offering psychotherapy’.
- How to work with victims of adversity without, inadvertently, strengthening in them a victim identity.
- How to work from both a human rights and a psychosocial perspective, whilst being aware of their potentially detrimental different approaches.
- How to work truly holistically.
- How to understand and use the ‘Adversity Grid’.
- How to work with a tangible understanding of resilient factors.
1. Key introductory considerations:
Refugee Care, for whom? Beyond terminological debates about refugees, migrants, beneficiaries and service users.
Basic considerations in formulating a viable approach to those we want to care for.
2. The essence of working psychosocially:
The range of meanings of what is a psychosocial approach.
Key considerations about a viable psychosocial approach in Refugee Care.
3. The essence of a psychosocial approach to the practice of human rights:
Neglected considerations of the implications of practising human rights.
The similarities and differences between a human rights and a psychosocial approach, and the advantages of creatively and thoughtfully combining both.
4. The essence of working therapeutically:
What is the difference between offering psychotherapy and working therapeutically?
What are the key considerations of a proper way of empowering adversity survivors?
5. Current topical themes and challenges:
Involuntary dislocation phenomena from wars, natural disasters and climate change.
Beyond the dichotomy of ‘trauma-informed’ or ‘strengths-based’ approaches.
Continuous Professional Development (CPD) certificates will be provided upon request after successful completion of the short course.
About CTAR and our short course team
CTAR (The Centre for Trauma, Asylum and Refugees) provides a framework and a focus for examining, from a variety of different perspectives, the main issues associated with the reality and experience of being an asylum seeker or refugee. The main emphasis of the Centre is on the psychosocial dimensions of these experiences. The Centre also provides a forum for individuals and organisations to exchange knowledge and experiences and to further develop their ideas and work in this field. CTAR is involved in training, research and intervention projects in many parts of the world.
CTAR links closely with the University of Essex’s Refugee Care programme, within the Department for Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies. Refugee Care can be studied part-time or full-time at both MA and PhD level. Seminars for the MA are held at both at the University campus in Colchester (Essex) and the Tavistock Centre in London. Practical and experiential elements, including organisational placements and visits to Asylum Tribunals, help develop a sound theoretical framework to understand the complexities of the refugee experience, such as family and societal factors, interactions with various services, institutions and organisations, and the inter-personal dynamics involved. The University of Essex also offers the same courses online.
Renos K Papadopoulos, PhD, is Professor and Director of the 'Centre for Trauma, Asylum and Refugees' and a member of the ‘Human Rights Centre’ at the University of Essex, as well as Honorary Clinical Psychologist and Systemic Family Psychotherapist at the Tavistock Clinic; in addition, he is a training and supervising Jungian psychoanalyst and systemic family psychotherapist in private practice. As consultant to the UN and other organisations, he has been working with refugees, tortured persons, trafficked people and other survivors of political violence and disasters in many countries. He lectures and offers specialist trainings internationally and his writings have appeared in 18 languages.
Zibiah Alfred Loakthar, PhD, is a Lecturer in Refugee Care and Inclusivity Lead for the Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies at the University of Essex. Zibiah has many years of experience working in social justice and equality sectors with minoritised and refugee communities, leading arts, community development, education, heritage and oral history projects for a wide range of charities. She chairs a London-based frontline refugee support charity, and her research interests include refugee voice, narratives and oral history as well as issues of equality, diversity and inclusion.
Monica Luci, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, Jungian (IAAP) and relational (IARPP) psychoanalyst, and Lecturer in Refugee Care at the Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies of University of Essex. She is consultant and supervisor for NGOs and international organisations in the psychosocial and psychotherapeutic work with refugees, especially survivors of torture, human trafficking, gender-based violence and other human rights violations. She is the author, translator, and editor of publications on the themes of trauma, torture, displacement, collective violence, gender, and psychoanalysis. She is a member of the Board of the Journal of Analytical Psychology.
