We currently work in the Democratic Republic of Congo with victims of sexual violence and torture in the southeastern district of Katanga; in Dadaab, Kenya, providing care to refugees of the war in Somalia; and in Amman, Jordan, with Iraqi refugees.

Healing Survivors of Torture and War
CVT provides counseling and community mental health activities to adults and children who suffered torture and war trauma. Most survivors receive small group counseling. These small groups meet weekly for about ten weeks, and, depending on the nature of the trauma, might be divided into different populations including adults, children, men and women, girls and boys.

Survivors with severe trauma symptoms receive private individual counseling, with many joining small group counseling when they are able. Our international healing projects help an average of 2,000 torture and war trauma survivors each year.

Survivors receiving care from CVT are followed closely to measure their healing. They consistently report significant decreases in mental health symptoms such as anxiety and depression, as well as decreases in somatic (physical) symptoms. They also express more hope for the future and better relationships after receiving help from CVT.

Training Refugees and Communities Members to be Healers
In addition to providing direct mental health services, CVT trains members of the community and the refugee population to be skilled group counselors, advocates, educators and trainers. Our goal is to develop mental health resources where none existed before.

These paraprofessional mental health counselors undergo an intensive orientation and basic training period. Then they participate in small group counseling sessions with a professional psychotherapist experienced in torture and trauma recovery. Throughout their work with CVT, they receive ongoing professional training and daily mentoring with a professional psychotherapist modeling, observing and giving feedback after every counseling session and activity.

Former counselors trained by CVT have been hired by the International Criminal Court, the Special Court for Sierra Leone and other organizations where extensive mental health expertise is required.

Building a Healing Community
In communities where CVT provides mental health services, we also extend training and awareness-raising activities to the local community. We work with teachers and religious and local leaders to help them understand the effects of torture on individuals and communities. We also initiate non-counseling activities such as sports, games, drama, art and play therapy to engage the whole community in the healing process and reach out to new clients. Every year, thousands of community members learn of CVT through these activities.

Culturally Sensitive Care
A hallmark of our healing services is the combination of contemporary Western psychotherapy approaches with culturally appropriate methods of healing. This approach was adopted in our first international healing initiative in Guinea, where CVT psychotherapists and the peer counselors included ritual, storytelling and song in the healing process. We continue that tradition of adapting counseling to incorporate culturally appropriate traditions, concepts and customs into the healing process. The psychotherapists we hire are highly skilled trauma therapists who have worked in culturally diverse environments.

CVT international healing projects are made possible with support from the State Department Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, the European Union and the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture.