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Trauma Systems Therapy for Refugees

Trauma Systems Therapy for Refugees (TST-R) is a multi-level, phase-based organizational and clinical model for youth who have experienced forced displacement. TST-R addresses barriers to accessing mental health services (e.g., stigma, language, distrust, primacy of basic needs). TST-R requires adequate infrastructure and partnerships to implement all tiers and phases. This includes community engagement (Tier 1), skills-based groups (Tier 2), and clinical intervention under the TST model (Tiers 3 & 4) comprised of individual and family sessions. TST-R promotes culturally responsive care by pairing clinicians with cultural brokers. Cultural brokers are members of the cultural community who (1) speak the language, (2) share similar lived experiences of the families being served, and (3) understand youth-facing service systems. Clinicians and cultural brokers are paired together dyadically to deliver services at each tier of intervention.

Acronym: 
TST-R
Targeted Populations: 
Children (7-12), Youth (13-18), Families, Caregivers, Communities, Youth who have experienced forced displacement due to humanitarian crisis; newly arriving, recently resettled, and established refugee youth and communities
Published in 2025