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BMC Psychiatry
Published in: BMC Psychiatry 1/2015

Open Access 01-12-2015 | Research article

Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy with unaccompanied refugee minors: a case series

Authors: Johanna Unterhitzenberger, Rima Eberle-Sejari, Miriam Rassenhofer, Thorsten Sukale, Rita Rosner, Lutz Goldbeck

Published in: BMC Psychiatry | Issue 1/2015

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Abstract

Background

Unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) are a group who are vulnerable to developing posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). However, they rarely receive the treatment that is indicated and there are no treatment studies focusing exclusively on this group of adolescents. This case study evaluates the feasibility of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) for URMs with PTSS.

Method

A health care utilization sample of N = 6 was assessed prior to and after treatment with TF-CBT. Therapists were asked to report differences in treatment application and content in comparison to TF-CBT standard protocol.

Results

We found moderate to high levels of PTSS at baseline and a clinically significant decrease in symptoms at posttest. Some modifications to the TF-CBT protocol were made with regard to affective modulation which required more sessions than usual whereas fewer caregiver sessions were conducted.

Conclusion

TF-CBT is feasible in reducing PTSS in severely traumatized URMs. Further research with controlled trials is necessary.

Trial registration

The trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01516827. Registered 13 December 2011.
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Metadata
Title
Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy with unaccompanied refugee minors: a case series
Authors
Johanna Unterhitzenberger
Rima Eberle-Sejari
Miriam Rassenhofer
Thorsten Sukale
Rita Rosner
Lutz Goldbeck
Publication date
01-12-2015
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Psychiatry / Issue 1/2015
Electronic ISSN: 1471-244X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-015-0645-0

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