Transcending Violence: Emerging Models for Trauma Healing in Refugee Communities

This monograph, developed by SAMHSA’s National Center on Trauma-Informed Care, is an introduction and overview of the issues involved in providing mental health trauma services for refugees in the United States. It is intended primarily for people who work in or care about the public mental health system - clinicians, administrators, policymakers, advocates, and consumer/survivors. The goal of the paper is to help people better understand who refugees are, how they differ from others, what their needs are, and how the mental health system could be most helpful. While refugees have many health, mental health, and social support needs, the focus here is on trauma.