Responding to refugee trauma: Explorations in narrative practices with people from refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds

Narrative therapy is a therapeutic practice that is informed by the idea that people know themselves through stories. It sees people’s lives and identities as multi-storied; though often there are dominant stories that can... [ view full abstract ]

Narrative therapy is a therapeutic practice that is informed by the idea that people know themselves through stories. It sees people’s lives and identities as multi-storied; though often there are dominant stories that can be highly problem-saturated. Narrative therapy seeks to discover and richly describe preferred, alternative stories. Narrative therapy sees people as separate to problems and is known for the idea, ‘the person is not the problem, the problem is the problem’. Narrative therapy positions people as experts in their lives and views them as having skills, knowledge, abilities, values, and commitments.

Narrative therapy has been drawn on to respond to trauma in a range of contexts. Michael White, co-founder of narrative therapy said:
When a person has been through recurrent trauma, their ‘sense of myself’ can be so diminished it can be very hard to discover what it is they give value to. This is because recurrent trauma is corrosive of what people treasure in life. It’s a violation of their purpose in life and of their sentiment of living. (2004, p. 46)
This paper will explore the application of narrative therapy as a response to experiences of trauma for people from refugee backgrounds. In the context of working with people from refugee backgrounds who have experienced trauma, this paper will consider:
- How might practices that seek to thicken multiple stories of self contribute to wellbeing?
- How might practices that position people as experts in their own lives contribute to wellbeing?
- How do practitioners engage with stories of trauma, while also hearing stories of resistance?

This paper will present some narrative principles as particularly relevant to responding to refugee trauma. It will explore useful narrative practices such as, double listening, documentation, and witnessing. Finally this paper will particularly use stories of practice from our work as Counsellor Advocates at Foundation House.