Working with Torture Survivors from a Refugee Background

Event Details

Saturday, 18th February 2023
10:00am to 111:30am
Online (Zoom)

The IFPP is delighted to welcome Aisling Hearns of Spirasi to present this seminar on Working with Torture Survivors from a Refugee Background.

As we see an increase in people with significant trauma this seminar will form a reflective space for working with survivors of torture.

The Speaker

Aisling Hearns (MA in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy) is the head of psychotherapy in Spirasi. Spirasi is the rehabilitation centre for survivors of torture in Ireland. Aisling has several degrees in the area of mental health and has just concluded a doctorate in psychology in Trinity College Dublin. Aisling’s role in Spirasi is to provide individual and group psychotherapy to survivors of torture and oversee the wider therapy team.

Spirasi is Ireland’s national centre for the rehabilitation of survivors of torture. The majority of their clients are people currently seeking asylum in Ireland after fleeing persecution in their country of origin. Spirasi offers a holistic rehabilitation model which includes therapeutic, psychosocial, medico-legal, education and integration supports to survivors. This workshop will outline the impact of the torture and the refugee experience, the triple trauma paradigm, and how to work with a survivor of torture from a refugee background. As nearly 20% of Spirasi clients identify as LGBTQ+ and Spirasi ‘s LGBTQ+ clients have often been subject to a lifetime of trauma, rejection, and torture, this workshop will explore the additional difficulties this community experiences.