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Testimony as ritual and evidence in psychotherapy for political refugees

Journal of Traumatic Stress volume 3, pages 115–130 (1990)Cite this article

Abstract

Testimony as a ritual both of healing and of condemnation of injustice would seem to be a universal phenomenon. The concept of testimony contains both connotations of something subjective or private, and of something objective, judicial, or political. When political refugees give testimony to the torture to which they have been subjected, the trauma story can be given a meaning, can be reframed: private pain is transformed into political dignity. In the context of testimony, shame, and guilt connected with the trauma can be confessed by the victim and reframed. In the transcultural meeting between the political refugee and the Western therapist, the common goal of creating evidence against repression becomes both a meeting place and a joint point of departure. The testimony method is demonstrated by two case histories.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Cultural Sociology, University of Copenhagen, Rosenborggade 17, DK-1130, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Inger Agger

  2. OASIS—Treatment and Counseling Center for Refugees, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Inger Agger

  3. The Transcultural Team, Psychiatric Department, Central Hospital, DK-3400, Hillerød, Denmark

    Søren Buus Jensen

Authors
  1. Inger Agger
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  2. Søren Buus Jensen
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Agger, I., Jensen, S.B. Testimony as ritual and evidence in psychotherapy for political refugees. J Trauma Stress 3, 115–130 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00975139

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00975139

Key words

  • the testimony method
  • transcultural psychotherapy
  • political refugees
  • torture trauma
  • post-traumatic therapy