Research by Elizabeth Coombes demonstrates how music-based therapy can provide a safe space to support refugees, without the need for words.
Over the past 20 years, the number of people forcibly displaced from their homes worldwide due to conflict has reached a figure in excess of 90 million. This has more than doubled since the early 1990s, a time period labelled “the decade of displacement” by the United Nations Refugee Agency. This rate of increase shows no signs of slowing and has been fuelled by the current situations in Syria and Ukraine.
Whatever the reason for displacement, there is no doubt that being forced to leave your homeland is traumatic. The journey to a safer place can be physically and emotionally challenging. Shock and denial are often the first emotions experienced by refugees.
Long-term problems include unmanageable emotions, flashbacks and difficulty with relationships. Physical symptoms such as nausea and headaches may also occur. While practical support such as providing physical safety, food and clothes and medical help are crucial, psychological support also needs to be offered...Keep reading on The Conversation.
Over the past 20 years, the number of people forcibly displaced from their homes worldwide due to conflict has reached a figure in excess of 90 million. This has more than doubled since the early 1990s, a time period labelled “the decade of displacement” by the United Nations Refugee Agency. This rate of increase shows no signs of slowing and has been fuelled by the current situations in Syria and Ukraine.
Whatever the reason for displacement, there is no doubt that being forced to leave your homeland is traumatic. The journey to a safer place can be physically and emotionally challenging. Shock and denial are often the first emotions experienced by refugees.
Long-term problems include unmanageable emotions, flashbacks and difficulty with relationships. Physical symptoms such as nausea and headaches may also occur. While practical support such as providing physical safety, food and clothes and medical help are crucial, psychological support also needs to be offered...Keep reading on The Conversation.