To mark mental health awareness week, Kathryn, a child and family therapist at the Refugee Council, talks about the mental health challenges faced by the children she works with.
(Note: contains topics which some readers may find upsetting).
Children who are resettled here as refugees have already been through so much hardship. They’ve not had an easy life; sometimes they’ve lived most of their lives in fear, often experiencing racism and continuing violence in the countries they flee to. Coming here is a last resort, and a hope for safety and the chance to settle.
Often that’s not made easy at all, it can be a struggle for basic things like safety in their neighbourhood, education and suitable housing. I wonder if the majority of the general public understand everything people have been through before coming here.
Younger children
Parents and children may have witnessed traumatic events in war, or they may have been living in dangerous situations for a long time.
For younger children, up to 11 years old, settling into a school routine after long periods out of education can be a real struggle to begin with. Parents and children may have witnessed traumatic events in war, or they may have been living in dangerous situations for a long time. It can take a while to establish a sense of safety. Being separated from family and friends, worrying about family left behind—or seeing their parents’ anxiety—can have a big impact on children’s wellbeing.
"Sometimes they've lived most of their lives in fear."
Family separation
A lot of teens have unfortunately been separated from their parents
For teenagers, there are the same difficulties with separation and loss of friends and families. A lot of teens have unfortunately been separated from their parents, which has a huge impact on young people’s mental health. They don’t know when they will see their parents again. After being given hope that they will be reunited and going through the family reunion process for years, when this is not successful, young people experience high levels of distress, depression and anxiety.
This has been a big issue following the Afghan evacuation. The evacuation from Kabul was chaotic, with cases of young children separated from their family, or families having to leave one child behind, maybe someone else they were caring for.
Barriers at school
The language barrier at school is so difficult. Often children or young people don’t get given specific English language lessons, as they’re expected to learn through immersion in school. Everyone is different, and for some people that works, but others need to be taught. For older teens, it can be hard to make friends, or they might go through secondary school without learning to read and write because there are no resources to properly teach them. It can be devastating for young people’s self-confidence. People arrive with high drive and ambition for professional careers and while some do manage to succeed, many have the system stacked up against them.
I see this really damaging young people’s self-esteem and mental health. We have situations where people are self-harming, taking out their frustrations on themselves, their family.
Hostility
There have been some really horrible situations where children are bullied at school and come home to face hate crimes from their neighbours.
Hostile policies impact our clients. There have been some really horrible situations where children are bullied at school and come home to face hate crimes from their neighbours. I think that’s something that’s increasing because of the media and wider rhetoric about refugees.
The people we work with tend to have had to develop a lot of resilience—but it seems to be a failing that they then continue to need it here.
On the other hand there are many positive examples of schools, neighbours or community groups welcoming families and supporting them.
Our therapeutic work
"It's usually play-based or talking therapy."
We work with families who have been resettled across all South Yorkshire. We might work in schools or in the family home, or we have a playroom here in our Sheffield office. The therapy we offer is tailored to the individual – usually play-based or talking therapy. I go into schools a lot, and that’s an important part of it. Doing sessions in school helps staff ‘see’ the children and think about their needs. Being seen and heard can make such a difference for kids in school.
Family therapy is always varied and impossible to predict.
This is my first job since training. Family therapy is always varied and impossible to predict. My caseload is usually nine families, it might be individual children, a parent and child, or it might be a whole family. We also have a part-time Play Therapist who works one-to-one with children, and she will see 8 clients.
It’s really rewarding to see a difference in children, becoming more confident, more able to express their difficulties, seeing families relax more, relieving some of the anxiety for them.
Our therapists—like Kathryn—help children and adults make sense of their experiences, drawing on their resilience and strength to recover and start rebuilding their lives. But we can’t do it without your support.
Please make a donation today to help refugees and asylum seekers rebuild their lives in the UK.
