ORCID
- Megan Stuart-Richards: 0009-0000-9865-8123
Abstract
AbstractRefugees face unique and traumatising challenges to their mental health across multiple socio-political climates. Services are providing inequitable support for refugees, which lack appreciation of transcultural conceptualisations of mental distress, amongst a backdrop of social injustice. Refugees were employed as Co-researchers to co-produce every stage of this project. Reflexive Thematic Analysis was utilised in this study to examine experiences and learning needs of 79 Trainee Clinical Psychologists (TCP’s) in their survey responses. Novel training guidelines, to be accessed via ‘supplementary materials’, were co-produced alongside scoped learning needs, which contribute to health research and practice. Four interrelated overarching themes became evident. All participants highlighted a ‘Demand for Training & Experience’ with refugees. Participants identified learning needs and challenges around ‘Language & Cultural Inclusion’ and ‘Sociopolitical Climates as Traumatic & Barriers to Effective Support’, calling for a ‘Need for Systemic & Community-Based Approaches’. Clinical Psychology courses should respond to the Demand for Training & Experience. Lived Experience and Working with Interpreters are vital in service development and training. The Power Threat Meaning Framework could be useful when working with refugees to engage with systemic power, a strengths focus and cultural humility. There is a need for offering choice of Systemic & Community-based Approaches, balanced with clinical services focusing on improving accessibility and equitable care. TCP’s appear well positioned to impact service delivery and engage in social justice work to address barriers in the currently traumatising climates. Improvements to asylum-seeking processes and meeting basic needs are key in improving refugee mental health. Key Words: Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Co-production, Training, Clinical Psychology, Transcultural, Culture, Trauma, Sociopolitical & Lived Experience.
Awarding Institution(s)
University of Plymouth
Keywords
Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Co-production, Training, Clinical Psychology, Transcultural, Culture, Trauma, Sociopolitical & Lived Experience.
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Date
2025
Embargo Period
2026-08-22
Deposit Date
September 2025
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Stuart-Richards, M. (2025) Bridging The Gap: A Mixed Methods Study of Trainee Clinical Psychologists’ Experiences and Learning Needs for Working with Refugees, with Co-produced Training Guidelines.. Thesis. University of Plymouth. Retrieved from https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/psy-theses/178
