The Covid 19 pandemic has hit the most vulnerable the hardest and refugees and asylum seekers are some of the most vulnerable members of our communities. As an organisation we have witnessed the devastating effect the pandemic has had on these communities. They have been isolated from the essential support networks that we at Trauma Foundation South West (TFSW) contribute to. Our provision provides a reliable and safe therapeutic space for these vulnerable individuals and our work has helped many to settle and prosper in the Bristol area.
We are therefore raising funds so that we are able to expand our therapeutic service allowing us to support more of these very vulnerable members of our community.
Our main provision is of psychotherapy and counselling to highly traumatised refugees and asylum seekers.
We thus provide a space of listening, witnessing and support over months and years to help our clients find a life that has meaning as well as surviving specific symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) such as bodily pain, flashbacks, nightmares and sleeplessness.
Most of our work is with individuals but we also provide an art therapy group with a trained art psychotherapist. All our individual therapists have special training and supervision for this work and are UKCP or BACP accredited.
Working with people who have been severely traumatised can itself be traumatising so support and supervision can help to keep staff healthy and mentally able to continue the work over a period of years.