8: Trauma-Informed Practice with Migrant and Refugee Women

This chapter explores the need for a trauma-informed approach in work with women from refugee and migrant backgrounds, who may have experienced multiple traumas including displacement, isolation, violence and abuse, and health trauma, among others. The women's project largely focused on workshops to provide practical information and skills in years one and two but this fell short of providing a way to recognise and address the trauma of their experiences. In year three, more emphasis was placed on mental health and well-being. In this context, we were able to pilot two ‘body and mind’ workshops that used art and movement therapeutic methods. The chapter outlines the experiences of trauma that emerged in the narratives of the women over the three-year project. We argue that mental health and trauma are neglected in policy and practice with migrant and refugee groups and that trauma-informed practice needs to be more embedded in such work. Holistic and intersectional research and practice cannot ignore trauma and its impact, if it is to engage with the whole experience of migrant and refugee women and understand how their different experiences intersect.