'The whole human being' - Therapists' perception and experienced handling of the holistic approach in the treatment of refugees with PTSD
Student thesis: Master thesis (including HD thesis)
- Josefine Segerstrøm Mørk
4. term, Sociology, Master (Master Programme)
In recent years more focus has been directed towards mental disorders in contemporary western societies. In this respect, there has been a focus on the cultural influence on these disorders and why they occur. Hereby, cultural aspects and especially cultural barriers are seen as something that needs to be integrated in the therapeutic treatment of mental disorders – especially when the patient comes from a very different cultural background than the therapist. The cultural aspects and barriers are especially seen as vital in the treatment of traumatized refugees because they often live in an intersection between different cultures – their background culture(s) and the culture in the society in which they receive the treatment.
In relation to this, there has been a focus on a holistic approach in the treatment of mental disorders, one of them is the biopsychosocial model. An approach in which the idea is to capture the hole patient – both the physical and biological, the psychological and the social factors that affect the patient’s life and the mental disorder(s). To be able to have focus on these different factors the treatment needs to be done in an interdisciplinary teamwork.
This sociological master thesis focuses on therapists’ perspectives on the holistic approach in the treatment of refugees diagnosed with PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder). The therapists included in the thesis consist of psychologists and physiotherapists that all work in a Danish rehabilitation centre for traumatized refugees. The therapists are treating the patients through a holistic approach but there does not seem to be a definition of what this approach consists of at the centre. Hereby the approach seems to be a sort of a ’black box’ which the therapists individually have to fill out. Hereby this can affect how they deal with the approach in their treatment of the patient and the overall link in the total treatment of the patient.
Therefore, this master thesis is going to examine the therapists’ perceptions of the approach and what it consists of, and in relation to that their experienced handling of the approach in the treatment of the patients.
To examine the different thearapists’ perceptions and experienced handling this thesis is inspired by an adaptive approach with hermeneutic elements and with a focus on the use of sociological orienting concepts. These concepts consist of parts of Peter L. Berger & Thomas Luckmann’s theory of knowledge, parts of Axel Honneth’s theory of recognition and parts of Carol Boyd and Sharon C. Bolton’s theory of emotional management at the workplace. Besides these concepts there has been a focus on including new perspectives in the analysis to be able to unfold and explain the therapists’ statements. The method used to collect the therapists’ perceptions and experienced handling of the approach consist of individual semi-structured video interviews via Skype/ Facebook.
Throughout the thesis it has become evident that even though there seems to be no definition of the holistic approach, the different therapists’ perceptions seem to be quite comparable – they all see some physical, psychological and social elements in the approach. Furthermore, there seems to be a lot of different aspects that affect the experienced handling of the approach. Especially, the relatively loose structural framework at the center seems to play a vital role on the experienced handling both leaving some space for the therapists to draw on some of their own feelings in their relation to the patient – something that is vital in understanding and treating these very fragile patients. On the other hand the relatively loose structural framework especially concerning the interdisciplinary dialogue between the therapists both have some positive and negative consequences on the experienced handling. Here the day-to-day dialogue is structured by the therapists themselves where personal preferences and chemistry sometimes can affect the ongoing link between the different treatments in the total treatment of the patient.
Language | Danish |
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Publication date | 26 May 2020 |
Number of pages | 91 |