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Mental Health Resources on Refugee & Asylum Seeking Children
This page provides access to a wealth of information and resources on mental health of refugees and asylum seeking children through a number of reputable national and international mental health organisations and their databases.
These resources are available to refugees and asylum seeking children and their families, friends, carers, as well as mental health practitioners who may utilise them whilst working with this population.
The national and international websites below have been researched and compiled by Dr Farkhondeh Farsimadan, a Chartered Counselling Psychologist, who is an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and an HCPC registered Psychologist.
Please use the links below to access the websites and resources.
Emerging Minds, Australia
Emerging Minds is dedicated to advancing the mental health and emotional wellbeing of Australian infants, children, adolescents and their families. Emerging Minds now leads the National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health, delivered in partnership with the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS), the Australian National University (ANU), the Parenting Research Centre (PRC) and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP). Emerging Minds develops mental health policy, services, interventions, training, programs and resources in response to the needs of professionals, children and their families. Resources including research papers, podcasts, webinars, practice papers, factsheets, toolkits etc., are freely available via the website and link below.
The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, (ISTSS)
The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, ISTSS is an international interdisciplinary professional organisation that promotes advancement and exchange of knowledge about traumatic stress by sharing information on assessment and treatment of trauma. ISTSS offers a number of assessment and treatment resources for adults as well as children with PTSD, for clinicians including test materials/tools and treatment manuals, patient handouts as well as resources intended for the public. To browse resources, visit ISTSS's pages below:
The Journal of Traumatic Stress, (JTS)
The editors of the Journal of Traumatic Stress (JTS), published by Wiley-Blackwell, the British Psychological Society publishing partners have put together a topical virtual special issue, containing a collection of articles published in JTS relating to refugee children and their parents, including research on the mental health needs, techniques for assessment, and effective interventions for refugee families. The papers can all be accessed without any charge.
Refugee Children and their parents
Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre, British Columbia, Canada
The BC Children's Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre provides mental health and substance use information, resources, and peer support to children, youth and their families from across BC, Canada. Children, youth and families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds may experience additional challenges accessing and using mental health information and services as a result, the centre provides cross-cultural translated resources and tools that community and health professionals can use to strengthen their ability to support the mental health of diverse families in British Columbia.
These resources and information are available in Chinese (Simplified & Traditional), Farsi, French, Korean, Punjabi.
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, (NCTSN)
The NCTSN is funded by the Centre for Mental Health Services (CMHS), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and jointly coordinated by UCLA and Duke University. The resources and Information are intended for mental health professionals, healthcare providers, school personnel, policymakers, and public and are translated in a number of languages including Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Japanese, etc. Links below provide information about refugees and refugee trauma, including basic definitions, a description of refugee core stressors, and recommendations related to screening, assessment, and intervention.
To browse resources, visit the NCTSN Resources page below:
NCTSN - Review of Child and Adolescent Refugee Mental Health
NCTSN - Refugee Trauma, Interventions
NCTSN - Mental Health Interventions for Refugee Children in Resettlement: White Paper II
Post-traumatic stress disorder. Guidance. National Institute for Health & Care Excellence, NICE. (2018).
This guideline covers recognising, assessing and treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children, young people and adults. It aims to improve quality of life by reducing symptoms of PTSD such as anxiety, sleep problems and difficulties with concentration. Recommendations also aim to raise awareness of the condition and improve coordination of care.
Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health, (RCPCH)
RCPCH’s Resources page on refugee and unaccompanied asylum seeking children and young people was developed in partnership with the Child Protection Standing Committee and the Advocacy Committee and provides information and resources on matters including current UK asylum processes, key practice considerations, age assessment, children in detention, etc., with links to key external information and resources. This information aims to support paediatricians in the assessment and management of children and young people of refugee background.
Royal College of Psychiatrists, (RCPSYCH)
RCPSYCH's website mental health section has an abundance of mental health information including user-friendly and evidence-based information on mental health problems and treatments in the form of leaflets on mental health disorders including information for young people, parents and carers.
Royal College of Psychiatrists Resource for Refugees & Asylum seekers
Royal College of Psychiatrists launched a resource (endorsed by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges) in April 2022 that provides information, guidance and support to health and social care professionals working with refugees and asylum seekers who have sought sanctuary in the UK, ensuring prompt, high quality care.
Please use links below to access this resource:
RCPSYCH launches new resource to support the mental health of asylum seekers and refugees
RCPSYCH - Asylum seeker and refugee mental health
RCPSYCH - Mental health of asylum seekers and refugees (PDF)
Save the Children's Resource Centre
Save the Children's Resource Centre is an online library that hosts comprehensive, reliable and up-to-date information on Save the Children's thematic areas: child protection, child rights governance, health & nutrition, education and child poverty. The website is open to the public and provides access to over 7,000 materials all in one place and a number of languages including English, Arabic, French, Italian, Spanish, etc.
Service for the Treatment & Rehabilitation of Torture & Trauma Survivors, (STARTTS, NSW)
STARTTS is a specialist, non-profit organisation that for the past 30 years has provided culturally relevant psychological treatment and community support and interventions to help refugees rebuild their lives in New South Wales in Australia.
UK Trauma Council
The UK Trauma Council (UKTC) is comprised of a group of leading experts in the field of childhood trauma from various discipline across the UK, bringing together expertise in practice, research and policy. The UKTC creates evidence-based resources and aims to improve carers and professional’s understanding of the nature and impact of trauma, childhood abuse and neglect in order to better equip them in supporting children and young people exposed to trauma. The UKTC is hosted and supported by the Anna Freud Centre.
University of Oxford Series of Podcasts - Mental Health Interventions for Refugee Children
A series of podcasts produced by Dr Esther Schroeder for the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford (2019), which may be accessed via the link below, are intended for mental health professionals working with refugee children. This series of podcasts outlines a number of topics including approaches to psychological assessments for refugee children, PTSD, Narrative Exposure Therapy, Trauma Focussed Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and how a child's family, home, community and school environments can impact their mental health once settled in a new country.
YoungMinds
YoungMinds provides mental health resources including wellbeing activities for schools, toolkits and webinars for mental health professionals to help young people in the need of mental health support including refugee and asylum seeking children. Resources are for school staff, mental health professionals, foster carers, social workers and other workers in the community working with children and young people including refugee and asylum seeking children.