The Treatment and Rehabilitation program is TRC’s core program. This program provides comprehensive medical, psychiatric, and psychosocial services to victims of torture and organized violence and to their families. TRC’s clinical team is multi-disciplinary, which makes it possible to offer a range of holistic treatment plan to each individual client. A personal and in-depth treatment plan is designed for each client in order to best cover his/her needs including; psychological, social and medical. This comprehensive approach is essential to the overall effectiveness of treatment, as it is very difficult to make progress in one area if another area is neglected. TRC aims to develop and implement a program that is expert in the area of torture and rehabilitation – provide highly needed services in an efficient manner.
TRC’s conducts its work either in its central offices or as an outreach program. The health workers can carry out house visits providing psychosocial support to victims of torture and organized violence and their families. In addition, TRC’s community-based approach to mental health emphasizes reaching not only the individual clients but also their families and neighbourhoods in order to raise awareness, reduce stigma and strengthen support and resources available to those who have had their mental well-being disrupted.
Who are targeted?; TRC does not only provide psychosocial services to ex-detainees and their families. TRC also targets victims of house demolitions, sieges, raids, curfews, shelling and bombing, and the bereaved and victims of organised violence. All clients at TRC are treated with the goal of identifying and treating enduring symptoms of trauma.
Methods Utilized; The most common methods utilized with our present clients include: Individual Psychotherapy; Short term dynamic psychotherapy; Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy; Psycho-education; Psychopharmacology; Crisis Intervention Protocols; Debriefing; Defusing; Demobilization; Relaxation and Problem Solving Techniques; Family; Group; Art and Play; Psychodynamic; Psychotherapy; Supportive Psychotherapy; Narrative Therapy; Trauma Focused Approach; EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing); SEC (somatic experience containment).
TRC Treatment Team is well trained on different approaches in order to treat their clients in TRC office or in their homes. These approaches usually used as Individual therapy and or group therapy. Every group of therapists uses one or two of these approaches depending on the approaches they are trained and master in.
1- Crises intervention team. This team is trained to reach the effected areas such as Invasions bombings ...exec as soon as the Military forces leave the area (after 24-72 hours) the team will supply an urgent Psychological First Aid Intervention to the group of victims. Usually Debriefing and educational intervention is done to prevent people to become traumatized in future
2- Eye Movement and Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Trauma treatment approach which was discovered by Francine Shapiro in 1987 USA. In 2009 EMDR is recognized as "highly effective intervention "in treating traumatic patients Eye movement are one way to make dual attention stimuli used to activate the clients information-processing system and achieve treatment effects . The goal of the EMDR is to rapidly metabolize the dysfunctional residue from the past and transform into something useful. Essentially , with EMDR the Dysfunctional information undergoes a spontaneous change in form and meaning incorporating insights and effects that are enhancing rather than denigrating to the client .(Francine Shapiro 2001 ) .
A group of TRC team is well trained and supervised by HAP USA to use this approach with their clients were they found very attractive and effective outcomes with both Children and adults in containing their traumas after a short time of therapy.
3- Narrative Therapy: Narrative Therapy was developed during the 1970s and 1980s, largely by Australian Michael White Dulwich Centre and his colleague David Epston
Dulwich Centre has invested a lot in training and supervising most of TRC team several times in order to master the treatment and use this treatment with Victims of torture and Organised Violence. This treatment has widely used by some of TRC therapist and, it has been used (with Adults and Children) individual therapy as well as in group therapy.
A narrative therapist is interested in helping others fully describe their rich stories and trajectories, modes of living, and possibilities associated with them. At the same time, this therapist is interested in co-investigating a problem's many influences, including on the person himself and on their chief relationships. By focusing on problems' effects on people's lives rather than on problems as inside or part of people, distance is created.
4- Restorative Retelling, Short term intervention an approach discovered by Edward Rynearson Seattle USA in 1989. It was based on a community -based support project for family members after a violent death. He developed a dynamic clinical model, a systematic process for screening for high -risk and specific short term intervention to deal with the combined distress of trauma and grief associated with prolonged and intensive violent dying imagery (Rynearson 2006).
This approached has been used by group therapist in TRC to treat Family members after Violent death (Martyrs who were killed by Israeli Military forces during the intifada) Groups of Mothers and sisters ,Wives of Martyrs took part in this group therapy approach . These groups were supervised by Edward Rynearson were very impressive results were noticed.
4- Cognitive Behaviour therapy (CBT). It is a Psychotherapeutic approach that aims to influence dysfunctional emotions, behaviors and cognitions through a goal-oriented, systematic procedure. BT is a combination of Behavioral learning therapy and Cognitive therapy. Most of TRC team is trained in TRC to use this approach with their cases especially with Mood Disorders and Anxiety disorder clients
5- Play Therapy is used in treating children implementing the previous approaches in order to help the children in overcoming their traumatic experiences
The Team; TRC’s team is currently made up of psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists/general practitioners, and 1 consultant psychiatrist. This team is located in TRC’s offices in Ramallah, Jenin, Hebron and Nablus and provide comprehensive medical, psychiatric and psychosocial services to victims of torture and organized violence throughout the West Bank. TRC strives to create a professional and organised system that ultimately produces a comprehensive approach which is essential to the effectiveness of the overall treatment.
Branches; TRC’s Ramallah headquarters and branch offices (found in Jenin, Hebron, and) Nablus are fully-equipped with individual therapy rooms, group therapy rooms, play therapy rooms, and clinics. It also is home to modern IT equipment. Both the administration and project teams are professional, and trained to the highest standards. The atmosphere of TRC’s offices provides the client with privacy, comfort and confidentiality. TRC’s team provides many different types of treatment and rehabilitation including; Individual sessions; Group sessions; Family sessions; Children and Play sessions; and specific Medical sessions.
Group therapy for victims of torture