This article describes the treatment of a severely traumatized teenage refugee. Effective treatment was made possible by the ongoing support of Social Services and the patient's generally high level of function. The discussion focuses on the importance of considering both trauma and loss; the use of ritual; pacing of treatment; and professional boundaries. The author concludes that: effective treatment can be provided for traumatized refugees in local NHS facilities; treatment should attend both to trauma and to loss syndromes; therapeutic rituals may be extremely helpful, but must conform to the belief systems of the patient; successful intervention is made much easier by the active support of Social Services and when the patient is able to function satisfactorily in day-to-day life. Copyright © 1996 Sage Publications.

Grief Treatment Refugee Ritual trauma

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