Social media and the emergence of new technology has both benefits and disadvantages. One of the advantages is that international news coverage is not solely dictated by people who own the news companies. Anyone with a smart phone, a camera and a wifi signal can try and update the rest of the world with what’s happening on the ground, and people can choose (or not) to educate themselves on these matters. However, where those of us in a position of privilege are benefitting from this free information, those people who are used to experiencing these horrors and who have already been subjected to these human rights abuses risk being retraumatised if they have to watch those scenes unfold again.
I, like many people I speak to, have been watching the humanitarian crisis unfold in Afghanistan and there are no other words to better describe the scenes than “traumatic”. However, our trauma is our privilege and I know through speaking with my social work colleagues, that our first question will always be “well if I am traumatised watching this, what is it going to be like for the young people we work with who have already been through this and are having to watch it play out in stereo”. The young people we support do not have the benefit of being shocked by these scenes, they have already lived through it.
In times like these, it’s hard to know what to do and how to help, especially when things feel so out of control and out of reach. However, there are things that we can do for the young people in front of us right now.
1) Be present – it’s highly likely young people from Afghanistan and other asylum seeking backgrounds are feeling scared, traumatised and with overwhelming feelings. They are going to need around them the safe adults in their life, who can offer reassurance and safe spaces. If you cannot be present consistently (hello massive caseloads and pending deadlines) work with support staff/carers and devise a way to make them consistently present. Take an active approach to this, create a plan, signpost staff who are not yet aware of what’s going on, check in on them regularly and make sure that young person has a safe, nominated person to be around when needed. Don’t wait for young people to come forward for this, it’s important that adults make the first move here.
2) Be mindful – as practitioners we know that trauma manifests itself in different ways and this is going to impact on the way that our young people interact with services and professionals. It might be that we need to cut them slack if they are acting out, we might need to check in again when they say “I’m fine”. By being trauma informed in your work, you will be positively supporting your young person.
For trauma informed practice resources see the links at the bottom of this page
3) Be informed – by keeping up to date with ongoing international developments and with events on the ground, young people are relieved from the responsibility of having to keep us informed. It’s highly likely young people want you to know what is happening, however, the act of telling you is going to be emotionally exhausting for them. Therefore, keep up to date. There are lots of fantastic accounts to follow that provide updates and insights into what is happening and how people are feeling. If you are on social media, amplify those voices that are expert by experience and support them by sharing across the networks.
4) Get legal advice – with the UK government’s position on Afghanistan changing, it is imperative that any young people with irregular immigration status obtain some legal advice. Young people on your caseload who are Appeals Rights Exhausted and Afghani? Get some legal advice quickly, it’s likely that they will have a further option to regularise their immigration status.
Psychological First Aid: Public Health England offer free online training for practitioners on how to provide practical and emotional support to children and young people affected by emergencies or crisis situations. The course is open access and can be found here.
Trauma Informed Practice Toolkit: The Scottish Government have developed an amazing Trauma Informed Practice Toolkit as part of their National Trauma Training Programme. The toolkit can be found here and the online resources can be found in appendix 4 here (on page 21 of this document there is a video of trauma informed practice specifically for asylum seekers and refugees).
Practical Resources for working with young people: If your young person has previously engaged well in during more hands-on sessions, then this site may be useful (providing the language barrier is not insurmountable). It provides a range of activities and resources for working with young people and trauma.
Beacon House offer a wide range of resources for professionals working with trauma. The dissociation cards can be used to start discussions about how young people are feeling at the moment. The trauma response activities may also be a good way to explain to young people why they may be feeling a certain way.
Resources for mental health staff:
Open access resources for mental health professionals supporting unaccompanied asylum seeking children can be found here.
Additional websites:
The Afghanistan and Central Asian Association provide support and mentoring opportunities to young people from Afghanistan.
Refugee Council offer a wide variety of services to meet the needs of unaccompanied children across the UK including mental health support.
Play for Progress offer therapeutic support services to unaccompanied children in London, they also offer online training in this field and may prove to be a useful contact for best practice models. Play for progress developed a list of questions to ask young people who may be experiencing a deterioration in their mental health, see here.
Caveat: Staff at ISWS Ltd are not trained mental health experts and the links within this post are designed to signpost practitioners to resources that may be useful in practice, these are not intended to replace mental health interventions. It goes without saying that if you are concerned about any young person in your care, you must seek guidance from a GP or via mental health services.
