Nationwide working group of psychosocial centers for refugees and victims of torture
The nationwide Working Group of Psychosocial Centers for Refugees and Victims of Torture (BAfF) is the umbrella organization of centers, institutions and projects that have made it their business to provide social, psychological and medical care and treatment for refugees and survivors of organized violence - such as torture .
Mentally stressed refugees are offered psychotherapy (mostly with a focus on trauma therapy ), social work support and often group work . Most of the centers also offer advanced training and specialist advice for medical, psychotherapeutic and pedagogical specialists and also campaign for the concerns of refugees at the political level.
Emergence
The registered association emerged in 1996 from a series of national meetings and specialist conferences in which the idea of a nationwide alliance of psychosocial centers in Germany was advocated. The BAfF performs tasks that are common to all member organizations and that expediently expand the scope for influence and influence of the individual organizations. B.
- joint projects and evaluation
- Exchange of experience and information between the centers and with external specialists
- Working groups on standards in therapy and assessment of psycho-traumatized refugees
- Lobbying and public relations
- European and international networking
- Further training and an annual federal conference
The office is based in Berlin.
aims
- Networking of treatment centers at national, European and international level
- Strengthening the professional exchange by developing, collecting and passing on professional standards, the latest research results, legal changes, etc.
- Development and promotion of qualification measures within the treatment centers (advanced training, specialist conferences, cooperation with training institutes)
- Offer qualification measures for professionals outside the treatment centers
- Providing expertise for conferences, expert panels, politics, administration and specialists, etc.
- Finding and promoting cooperation with charities, chambers of doctors and psychotherapists, decision-makers in health and social services as well as other public interest groups and European institutions
- Strengthening protection and respect for victims of violence and defending human rights
Member organizations
The association has over 30 members, including all of the larger facilities for the rehabilitation of refugees and victims of torture in Germany, as well as some refugee advice centers that also provide psychological services. There are member centers in almost all federal states in Germany:
Baden-Württemberg
- refugio Stuttgart - Psychosocial center for traumatized refugees
- PBV Stuttgart - Psychological counseling center for politically persecuted and displaced persons
- BFU Ulm - Treatment Center for Torture Victims Ulm
- REFUGIO Villingen-Schwenningen - contact point for traumatized refugees
- Trauma network Lörrach
Bavaria
- REFUGIO Munich - Advice and treatment center for refugees and victims of torture
- PSZ Nürnberg - Psychosocial Center for Refugees
Berlin
- Center for survival gGmbH
- XENION Berlin - Psychotherapeutic advice center for the politically persecuted
Brandenburg
- Treatment center for traumatized refugees, Fürstenwalde
- FaZIT - specialist advisory service for immigration, integration and tolerance
Bremen
- REFUGIO Bremen - Psychosocial center for foreign refugees
Hamburg
- haveno - psychotherapy and intercultural communication
- SEGEMI - Mental Health Migration and Flight eV
Hesse
- FATRA Frankfurt / M. - Frankfurt Working Group Trauma and Exile eV
- Ev. Center for Counseling and Therapy Frankfurt / M. - Haus am Weißen Stein - counseling and therapy for refugees
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
- Psychosocial center for migrants in Western Pomerania, Greifswald
Lower Saxony
- Network for traumatized refugees in Lower Saxony eV, Hildesheim
- IBIS - Interkulturelle Arbeitsstelle eV, Oldenburg
North Rhine-Westphalia
- PÄZ Aachen - Pedagogical Center - Specialist and advice center for children, young people and adults of foreign, binational and German origin
- MFH Bochum - Medical Refugee Aid
- PSZ Düsseldorf - Psychosocial Center for Refugees Düsseldorf
- PSZ Bielefeld - Psychosocial Center for Refugees
- tzfo Cologne - therapy center for torture victims of the Caritas Association for the city of Cologne
- Refugio Münster - Psychosocial refugee aid
- Psychosocial Center for Refugees Dortmund
- PSZ for refugees Diakonie Mark-Ruhr
- PSZ Mönchengladbach - Psychosocial Center for Refugees SKM-Rheydt eV
Rhineland-Palatinate
- IN TERRA - Psychosocial Center for Refugees, Mayen
- Psychosocial center for refugees, Altenkirchen
- Ecumenical advice center for refugees, Trier
- Psychosocial Center Palatinate, Ludwigshafen
- Psychosocial Center for Escape and Trauma, Mainz
Saarland
- PSZ Saarbrücken - Psychosocial Counseling Center of the German Red Cross
Saxony
- Psychosocial Center for Refugees Leipzig (Mosaik eV)
- Psychosocial Center Dresden (CALM Saxony)
Saxony-Anhalt
- Psychosocial center for migrants (locations in Halle (Saale) and Magdeburg)
Schleswig-Holstein
- Psychosocial contact point for refugees, Neumünster
Thuringia
- Refugio Thüringen - Psychosocial Center for Refugees (locations in Jena and Erfurt)
In addition, Pro Asyl , the nationwide working group for refugees, and the Saxon Refugee Council in Dresden are members of the BAfF as well as some individuals as specialist and sponsoring members.
activities
Therapy and support
The psychosocial centers for refugees and the treatment centers for torture victims are mentally stressed refugees psychotherapy (usually with a focus on trauma therapy ), social work support and often group work on.
According to the care report of BAfF eV, patients received an appointment for the initial consultation after an average of seven months in 2014. Only six percent of the patients could be referred by the PSZ to a resident psychotherapist.
Most centers also offer training and specialist advice for medical, psychotherapeutic and educational professionals.
Lobbying and public relations
In contact with decision-makers in politics and administration, the BAfF advocates the concerns of traumatized and mentally stressed refugees and the safeguarding of their rehabilitation.
Contemporary witnesses of human rights
The contemporary witnesses of human rights project aims to help refugees who have survived torture to have a voice in public space. Their experiences of serious human rights violations and their current difficulties are often the subject of contemporary testimonies. But they also report on their will to live and their strength to go on living despite torture and humiliation. These testimonies are documented in close cooperation with the member institutions in the form of interviews, group discussions, a writing workshop and alienated photos and made available to the public anonymously. With the project, the BAfF responds on the one hand to the need of people to communicate their experiences of violence, flight, life in exile or return home and thus to enter public space. On the other hand, the publication of their biographies and individual fates aims to raise public awareness. By documenting the eyewitness reports, the unspeakable experiences can be made accessible and the concrete problems and needs of the torture victims as well as the necessary support can be made clear.
Contextual trauma treatment
The BAfF informs itself about existing treatment offers for victims of human rights violations on site. Already existing context-related, integrated trauma treatment in the countries of origin are particularly important. The BAfF seeks and maintains cooperation with German, European and international NGOs and partners. The mutual transfer of knowledge and experience is an important prerequisite for good care in the home country. At the same time, the contextual knowledge can help to better understand the living situation as well as the political and cultural background of the home country or those affected and thus promote the development of relationships and access to the clients.
Working group refugee children
This working group strives for targeted lobbying work in favor of the refugee children and young people who have fled, in order to be able to help them better in their living situation. The main focus of this working group is, for example, access to youth welfare services or health care centers, child protection activities in refugee families and the exchange of strategies for local lobbying.
Fundraising working group
As a rule, regular health care only covers the treatment of refugees and victims of torture to a limited extent. Often necessary interpreting costs are not services that are covered by the health insurance. In addition, the special needs of severely traumatized people discourage resident doctors and psychologists. The treatment centers are mainly financed by project funds, foundations and donations.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jenny Baron, Lea Flory: Supply Report. For the psychosocial care of refugees and victims of torture in Germany. 2nd updated edition. BAfF eV, accessed on December 15, 2016 .
- ^ Thuringian Declaration - Securing the rehabilitation of refugees who are particularly in need of protection. In: www.wiki.psz-duesseldorf.de. Retrieved October 29, 2016 .