By Tanya Elez, Ph.D.
Working with refugees and asylum seekers means bearing witness to stories of loss, resilience, and the enduring power of human connection. As clinicians, we have a unique opportunity-and responsibility-to help clients rebuild and strengthen the relationships that sustain them through trauma and displacement. Here are ten practical, research-informed tips to guide your work:
1. Honor and Validate Relational Loss
Create a safe space for clients to express grief about lost or disrupted relationships. Gently revisit painful topics over multiple sessions, always respecting each client’s pace and readiness.
2. Support Creative and Culturally Meaningful Connections
Encourage clients to maintain ties with loved ones through phone calls, video chats, letters, or symbolic rituals. Validate non-traditional or creative ways of staying connected, such as sharing photos, family recipes, or virtual gatherings.
3. Explore and Strengthen Existing Relationships
Help clients identify safe, meaningful ways to sustain or rebuild relationships-even when some ties are strained or unsafe. Support the use of cultural practices and shared traditions to reinforce connection, even across distance.
4. Facilitate New Social Connections
Introduce clients to community organizations, cultural groups, or peer networks that can provide belonging and understanding. Explore barriers like language, stigma, or cultural differences, and help clients navigate new relational norms.
5. Empower Clients’ Strengths and Wisdom
Reinforce clients’ past efforts to sustain relationships and highlight their relational strengths. Invite clients to share advice or coping strategies with others, fostering empowerment and agency.
6. Address Family Dynamics and Intergenerational Relationships
Explore shifts in family roles, responsibilities, and communication patterns due to displacement. Offer family therapy or systemic interventions to strengthen communication and repair ruptures. Use developmentally appropriate methods to engage children and adolescents.
7. Preserve and Adapt Cultural Identity
Encourage families to maintain traditions and values that promote belonging and relational strength. Support adaptation of cultural practices in the new environment, affirming both continuity and flexibility.
8. Respect Boundaries and Autonomy
Respect clients’ choices to create boundaries with family or community members when appropriate. Avoid pressuring clients to reconnect with relationships that may be harmful or unsafe.
9. Integrate Relational Assessment with Standard Screening
Use relational questions alongside validated trauma and mental health screening tools (like the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire or RHS-15) for comprehensive assessment.
10. Attend to Your Own Well-being
Recognize the emotional demands of this work. Seek supervision, peer support, and self-care to sustain your practice and provide the best care for your clients.
Final Thoughts
Supporting refugee clients is about more than addressing symptoms-it’s about helping people rebuild the web of relationships that give life meaning, hope, and resilience. By working relationally and culturally responsively, clinicians can make a profound difference in the healing journey of those who have endured so much.
For more resources or to share your own tips, leave a comment below
Beyond Refugee Trauma 
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