Engaging refugee families in therapy: Exploring the benefits of including referring professionals in first family interviews

The possible benefits of including referring professionals in the first fam ily interviews are being explored as a way to engage refugee families in th erapy. Families in exile confront a number of problems related both to prem igration traumatic exposures and to present adaptation processes. Refugee c lients and the referring professionals in the larger system frequently see the problems and their solutions quite differently. This situation may ofte n, result in unclear working alliances in a context of therapy. We will des cribe first family interviews in which referring professionals are intervie wed about their reasons for referrals, and where the families are invited t o discuss these considerations. The conversations permit families, referrer s, and therapists to reflect upon. differences in positions and perspective s. Their experiences suggest that agreements or contracts based on these jo int interviews are less ambiguous and more clearly formulated than contract s based on interviews with families alone. Finally, these experiences are d iscussed as a potentially valuable approach in a cross-cultural context.