Nooria Mehraby
Senior Clinician/Trainer
STARTTS
Claudia Thoms
Psychologist
VFST
Jorge Aroche
CEO, Clinical Psychologist, Facilitator
STARTT
Certificate of Completion
To be issued with a Certificate of Completion you need to view the recordings by clicking on the modules listed under ‘Course Content’ below. You will need to watch the recordings in full to be issued with a certificate. If you prefer to watch individual recordings only, then click on the links for the individual recordings in the ‘Course Description’ below.
Course Description
Four decades of war and unrest in Afghanistan have had, and continue to have, a profound impact on all aspects of life in Afghanistan. Millions have fled the country, are internally displaced or have lost their lives. The current crisis, due to the fall of the country to the Taliban in late 2021, saw a major rescue operation, where over 4000 Afghans were who were at high risk, were evacuated to Australia. The crisis has also had a significant impact on the Afghan diaspora in Australia, many of whom are still dealing with deep physical and psychological scars of their traumatic experiences. Many have experienced re-traumatisation with severe posttraumatic symptoms, grief and loss reactions, acute anguish, anger, resentment, survivor guilt, anxiety and depression. Concern about family members in Afghanistan who are at risk but cannot leave Afghanistan, as well as the pressure to provide financial support to them, are additional sources of stress. This has placed an enormous demand on service providers.
This Clinical Master Class explored how torture and refugee trauma treatment and rehabilitation services in Australia responded to this major crisis. Claudia Thoms, an AHPRA registered psychologist who has worked with survivors of torture and refugee trauma for over 15 years, leads the Afghan Community Response Project at the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture (VFST) in Melbourne. Claudia will focus on the VFST therapeutic work with Afghan arrivals and outlined how counsellors work closely alongside Afghan community project workers to meet the needs related to settlement during the early stages of trauma recovery. Nooria Mehraby, a Senior Clinician/ Clinical Trainer and a former Afghan refugee with over 30 years’ experience with refugees, presented STARTTS’ response to the crisis in Afghanistan, through a holistic approach that integrates clinical and community development work.
Recording 1: Nooria Mehraby, Senior Clinician/Trainer STARTTS. Recording link: https://youtu.be/mrIidliY09o
Recording 2: Claudia Thoms, , Psychologist VFST. Recording link: https://youtu.be/SUl_529G-Y0
Recording 3: The Q&A panel discussion is facilitated by STARTTS’ CEO and Clinical Psychologist, Jorge Aroche. Recording link: https://youtu.be/Epq9BuMZAv0
This webinar was recorded on 23 March 2022. © STARTTS
Duration: 83 minutes.