An Austrian Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) offered psychotherapy to 37 asylum seekers and refugees (21 of them female) with a mean age of 36.1 years (s = 7.5), with the majority of them from Chechnya or Afghanistan. Comparative data between the start of therapy and the time of evaluation revealed a highly significant positive effect (d = 0.77), while most therapies were still going on. By a retrospective measure of perceived change, 85% of the participants reported significant improvements. The results show that even under difficult conditions, when working with asylum seekers and refugees, psychotherapy can be effective. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007.

Evaluation Refugee Psychotherapy Asylum

Russia treatment response Afghanistan immigrant refugee human Refugees effect size controlled study priority journal Austria diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders psychotherapy Humans treatment duration male female questionnaire clinical article Article adult Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic psychotrauma