Alternative Therapies for High Stress and Trauma-Exposed Refugees
Conflict in Syria and Iraq has created a humanitarian crisis that includes hundreds of thousands of refugees who have experienced trauma and suffer from a greater incidence of trauma-related disorders as compared to the general population. The need for intervention is clear: our research team has determined prevalence of probable PTSD, anxiety, and depression in adults at rates of 32.2%, 40.3% and 47.7%, respectively and children at rates of 6.3% for PTSD and 52.9% for anxiety. Barriers to treatment include cultural ideations surrounding psychiatric treatment, language barriers posed to psychotherapy, and high dropout associated exposure therapy-the standard treatment for PTSD. To overcome these challenges, the investigators developed a behavioral health program that addresses not only the psychological but also the somatic components of trauma-related disorders which are common but often less addressed by traditional treatment. This 12-week family-based program offers weekly, 90 minute sessions in Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) or Art Therapy for children, mindful yoga for mothers, and High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) for fathers as well as complimentary transportation to and from sessions. Self-report questionnaires and biological specimens (hair cortisol; saliva or blood inflammation markers) are collected at the beginning, middle, and end of the intervention phase, as well as 3, 6, and 12 months afterwards to measure acute and long-term effects of these treatments. By collecting psychological and biomarker data the investigators seek concrete scientific evidence supporting these non-pharmacological, cost effective, and accessible programs as reliable treatment options.
Start: July 2017