We are very happy about the further support of our project for traumatized pregnant women and mothers through Aktion Mensch.

In the last three years we have been able to reach more than 50 refugees with our therapeutic offers and train more than 600 full-time and volunteers in lectures and workshops on the subject of traumatisation.

We are well networked with the counselling centres, integration managers, doctors, midwives, clinics and lawyers in the district and have also been able to establish supra-regional cooperation with contact points and projects for our target group. The experience from the past years shows that the need for therapeutic support for refugee women is great, but that psychotherapeutic services in standard care are hardly used. Since our project has met with great demand, we are pleased to be able to add a second psychologist to our team. The new capacities also make it possible to expand our range of services, such as the removal of barriers to accessibility through initial visits to the accommodation.

The focus of our work with pregnant traumatized women is on psychoeducation and the prevention of retraumatization during childbirth. Women are to be prepared and strengthened for childbirth by discussing expectations and fears with regard to childbirth, by providing information on childbirth and clinics in Germany, and also by discussing their own trigger stimuli. The positive experiences of psychotherapeutic support during pregnancy, the knowledge of post-traumatic reactions and the possibility to have a contact point with therapy after childbirth are helpful elements for a good start after childbirth.

After extensive psychodiagnostic examination and counselling, we offer traumatised mothers the possibility of trauma-focused therapy (narrative exposure therapy, NET) and, if necessary, referral to suitable psychiatric, psychosocial or other psychotherapeutic offers from our network partners.

We also offer workshops and lectures on traumatisation and trauma sequel disorders with a special focus on the time around birth and the first years of life with the child. Here we would like to deepen our work with midwives and day care centres. In addition, the already trained staff and volunteers will continue to be supported in their work with traumatised women through supervision and in-depth practical seminars.

We are looking forward to the continuation of our therapeutic work and to the findings to be gained within the framework of the scientific accompaniment.