European Society of Traumatic Stress Studies Conference: Refugees, asylum seekers and practitioners' perspectives of embodied trauma

Background: Displaced individuals seeking refuge and asylum commonly present to healthcare practitioners with embodiment of mental distress due to the traumatic nature of their migration experiences. Research literature has highlighted the need for a clear definition of the term embodied trauma and revealed a gap in the knowledge between the phenomenological lived experience of embodied trauma and the many treatments available.

Objective: To answer the research questions: What is embodied trauma, how is it experienced by displaced individuals and being successfully treated by practitioners?

Method: A three-part study was operationalised. Study 1 consisted of a comprehensive scoping review of the embodied trauma literature. Study 2 investigated the phenomenological lived experience of embodied trauma in displaced individuals, including body mapping exercises. Study 3 investigated practitioners’ perspectives of working therapeutically with embodied trauma.

Results: Define the term embodied trauma, map the areas of the body commonly associated, and propose useful therapeutic interventions.

Conclusions: Recommend an individualised bio-psycho-social-sexual-spiritual-existential assessment of embodied trauma including body mapping, propose useful therapeutic interventions, and advocate for compassionate, trauma-informed research methods.