One minute of therapy with an interpreter for a refugee in Germany

Many refugees have fallen victim to serious human rights violations before fleeing their homeland. They have experienced violence, persecution or war. Such traumatic experiences cause many to suffer from severe anxiety and depression. The health burden is often exacerbated by the unsafe and oppressive accommodation situation as a refugee here in Germany. They urgently need psychosocial support.

The psychosocial center of the Medical Refugee Aid (MFH) offers interdisciplinary support services ranging from medical care to psychotherapy and social work. Whenever necessary, language and cultural mediators trained in counseling and therapy are used as interpreters.

Despite its central importance, language mediation is still not standard, neither in health care nor in public authorities, mainly because of a lack of funding. While the employees of our center can be financed from public project funding, this does not apply to the use of interpreters. The costs are not covered by health insurance companies and usually not by the social welfare office. The public subsidies are not nearly enough to cover our costs.