Therapeutic activism: Supporting emotional resilience of volunteers working in a refugee camp

Abstract

We describe the development of an approach offering emotional support to volunteers who responded to the humanitarian crisis that has left thousands of refugees living in precarious and dangerous conditions across Europe. The Refugee Resilience Collective was set up by a group of therapists drawing on social justice approaches, working on the French–English border. It was recognised that the emotional needs of volunteers were being neglected, putting many at risk of secondary traumatisation and “burnout.” We elaborate ways we set about fostering an environment of self‐care which, we argue, is crucial to sustaining volunteers. We have offered regular consultations to individuals and teams to nurture resilience and the potential for life‐changing growth, to help them manage the challenges of the work and to build their collective resistance to the abusive state system that refugees face. “Doing hope” for others and collective action are crucial components of our approach.

The Role of Emotion Regulation as a Potential Mediator between Secondary Traumatic Stress, Burnout, and Compassion Satisfaction in Professionals Working in the Forced Migration Field

“…Professionals in this field are not always well equipped to respond to the refugees' needs [6], since their professional well-being continues to remain a marginalized area of investment due to the paucity and precariousness of resources destined for these services [7].…”

Witnessing and Bearing Witness. On offering systemic consultations and practices of solidarity at the Uyghur Tribunal.

“…We, the Refugee Resilience Collective which we set up in 2016 to offer therapeutic support based on liberation psychology, narrative and social justice approaches (Afuape & Hughes, 2016;Martin Baro, 1996;Denborough, 2008;Reynolds, 2010;Wade, 1997;Weingarten, 2003) to refugees and volunteers in Calais and Dunkirk (Burck and Hughes, 2018;Hughes, Burck and Roncin, 2020) had been approached by the Assistant to the Counsel to ask whether we might be able to provide therapeutic support at the Tribunal. One of their researchers had worked as a volunteer in Calais and learned of our work there.…”