CVT Jordan was established in Amman in 2008 to help highly traumatized Iraqi refugees suffering from the effects of torture and armed conflict. The work expanded to care for Syrian refugees who started arriving in Jordan when the Syrian conflict began. Expansion continued over the years, and today CVT Jordan extends rehabilitative care to refugees from multiple additional countries, including Eritrea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen.
“CVT really made me feel like family, not a stranger.”
-Hamid, former client from Iraq
Torture and conflict affect all aspects of a person’s life and go beyond the individual to the family and the community. As part of the holistic healing approach, CVT Jordan provides mental health, physiotherapy and social referrals and case management. Our healing services are provided by professional, local, clinical staff.
Psychotherapy is provided in group or individual counseling sessions, helping survivors reduce very high levels of distress and improve their ability to function effectively within their families and communities. CVT’s trauma-informed physiotherapy helps survivors decrease the pain and disability of torture, increase body awareness and self-regulation, and regain function in daily living by learning techniques to self-manage their conditions over time. Social work and case management services help ensure refugees’ needs for many basic items like food, shelter and medical care are being met, as well assistance in navigating the support systems for refugees.
“I got out of the war but the war stayed with me because I left a part of my soul there.”
-Noor, former client from Syria
CVT Jordan conducts follow-up assessments at regular intervals to monitor and track progress. The team finds that improvement is both statistically significant and meaningful with reductions in depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, somatic and behavioral symptoms, and an increase in the number of supportive relationships. After receiving care from CVT, survivors consistently report increased hope, better coping skills and improved relationships.
CVT Jordan also builds local mental health and physiotherapy resources by developing specialized trauma treatment skills for mental health and physiotherapy staff. Our intensive training is focused on trauma treatment, with staff learning alongside experienced trauma psychotherapists and physiotherapists. CVT also provides training for the staff of other organizations, including health and social service providers, university students and others to increase their understanding of the effects of torture and war trauma and the benefits of mental health and physical therapy within a multidisciplinary approach.
