Your donations to our BBC Radio 4 Appeal will change lives
In the last few days, you may have heard our BBC Radio 4 Appeal which tells the story of Tuğrul, who developed PTSD after being held hostage in Libya for eight months. If you haven’t had a chance to listen yet, click here.
Actor Christopher Harper explains in the appeal that Tuğrul was referred to TTI’s Trauma Clinic and was helped to recover from his ordeal over the course of six months.
Tuğrul is one of many people who experienced horrific events and went on amazing journeys of recovery thanks to our online Trauma Clinic. A three-year project which received a grant from the MSN Fund in 2021, the clinic proved to be so vital to our operations that it has since been embedded into our mainstream practice.
And now, TTI CEO Quen Geuter explains why donating to our BBC Radio 4 Appeal is imperative, to ensure we can continue our life-changing trauma treatment work.
“We have been providing specialist, evidence-based trauma treatment to victims of extreme and horrifying events,” she says. “These include persecution by the Taliban, being held as a prisoner of war, and enslavement.
“In the UK, there is a severe shortage of expert psychological support, with limited access for victims to receive the necessary help needed to rebuild their lives. Internationally, this is compounded by conflict, state collapse, or people being forcibly displaced from their homes.
“With our MSN Fund grant having come to an end, we rely on donations and would urge everyone to support us via our BBC Radio 4 Appeal.”
The success of the clinic
The virtual nature of our Trauma Clinic means we have helped people from as far afield as Nigeria, Canada, Germany, the United Arab Emirates and Sweden.
Quen says: “The effectiveness of our treatment is evaluated by comparing the number and severity of psychological symptoms before and after our intervention. We utilise clinical assessment tools such as the PCL-5, which assesses PTSD symptoms, and the CORE-5, which measures overall well-being and functioning.
“Ninety per cent of our beneficiaries report a significant reduction in symptoms following completion of trauma treatment with us.”
Working with referral partners
The grant from the MSN Fund also went towards working with referral partners to improve their own trauma-informed practices. This helped them to be able to recognise and respond to the trauma of their beneficiaries, and safely manage their own exposure to trauma. These partners included Hostage International and Redress.
Of the partners, 85 per cent said TTI had helped them put staff wellbeing structures in place, while 80 per cent were better able to provide more trauma-informed services. As a result, they were able to prevent the re-traumatisation of their beneficiaries and helped them mitigate their own vicarious trauma.
What’s more, three partner organisations received extra capacity-building support. For instance, we supported members of Redress’ survivor advisory group to protect their wellbeing in the course of their work. We also provided training to the charity’s legal and advocacy teams, helping them to build trauma knowledge and embed trauma-informed practice.
Supporting victims in the legal system
The third objective of our project was to help referral partners and victims to better manage the psychological impact of the justice system and hold perpetrators to account.
Quen explains: “This work included presenting a Survivor Manifesto to the House of Lords, with recommendations on how to improve access to justice, accountability and reparations for UK survivors illegally detained and tortured. We also offered psychological treatment to victims involved in strategic litigation cases, helping them engage more effectively in legal proceedings.”
Prudence Norton of the MSN Fund calls the work of TTI “so needed”.
She says: "We have been connected to and interested in the work of TTI since its inception. The charity has created a pathway for partner organisations and their beneficiaries to receive evidence-based trauma therapy, and its monitoring and evaluation results speak to the benefits of this service.
“It is a privilege to have been associated with TTI and to enable its work to grow and influence the psychological services offered to an increasing number of trauma victims."