Mental Health Support for Refugees and Asylum Seekers
In the UK, refugees and asylum seekers who have experienced pre-migration trauma, are then subject to post-migration mental health issues owing to the UK’s hostile environment. They are placed in vulnerable situations where they have to worry about housing, money, employment, education, and access to legal advice. At least a million adults in the UK could be affected by No Recourse to Public Funds (NRFF). Many experience extended periods of stress and feelings of isolation, living in fear of deportation, detention, unemployment and homelessness. All of these risk factors have significant effects on an individuals’ mental health.
On top of this, mental health services have been chronically underfunded and there is a lack of research into the mental health of asylum seekers and refugees. In an NHS forward view from 2016 whilst it does make reference to the health inequalities in BAME groups, it does not once mention refugees or asylum seekers. According to the Refugee Council refugees are five times more likely than the UK population to have mental health needs and 61% of asylum seekers experience serious mental distress.
Language barriers, difficulty accessing information, and fear are just some of the reasons why refugees and asylum seekers might not seek mental health support, but there are some great community and voluntary organisations out there who play a vital role in supporting migrants who we can signpost to.
Refugee Council is a leading authority on mental health needs of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK. They have almost 20 years’ experience providing specialist mental health support to refugees and asylum seekers. Their services include individual counselling, psycho-educational support, psychosocial groups, and intensive caskework and crisis intervention.
Phone: 0808 196 7272
Email: refugeeadvice@refugeecouncil.org.uk
Freedom from Torture help people recover from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety and other other problems caused by trauma. They offer trauma specific therapies, as well as psychodynamic, systematic, integrative and group therapies. They also provide an interpreting service to people receiving therapy from them.
Phone: 0207 697 7777
Refugee Therapy Centre provides therapeutic support for refugees and asylum seekers who have experienced trauma and forced displacement. Their services include psychotherapy, counselling and associated treatments to refugees and asylum seekers in their own language.
Phone: 0207 561 0402
Email: info@refugeetherapy.org.uk
Nafsiyat Intercultural Therapy Centre
Nafsiyat is a charity that offers culturally sensitive therapy services for refugees and asylum seekers in over 20 languages. They offer services in London in Islington, Enfield, Camden and Haringey.
Phone: 0207 263 6947
Email: admin@nafsiyat.org.uk
Solace is a Leeds’ based charity that provides mental health and wellbeing support in the Yorkshire and Humber region for refugees and asylum seekers. They are a leading provider of therapeutic services for refugees regionally that facilitate more than 20 languages in their therapy services.
Phone: 07899 304 905
Email: info@solace-uk.org.uk
Helen Bamber Foundation is a charity based in Camden, London that offers therapy and other practical support to those who have experienced genocide, torture, trafficking and rape to help them deal with their pasts and build new futures.
Phone: 0203 058 2020
Email: reception@helenbamber.org
Waterloo Community Counselling
Waterloo Community Counselling is a charity that provides a no cost Multi-Ethnic Counselling Service (MECS) for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. They are located in Waterloo, but will see clients from any borough in London. They provide individual, mother tongue counselling and group support as well as signposting to other organisations to address their pragmatic and practical difficulties.
Phone: 0207 928 3462
Email: info@waterloocc.co.uk
Please do get in touch if you know of any other organisations offering mental health support for migrants.
