TFT to be Used in Double-blind Randomized Controlled study with Women in camps for Internally displaced people (IDP) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

TFT practitioners have been bringing post-disaster trauma relief to places in the United States such as Charity and Oshener Hospitals after Hurricane Katrina, and training local therapists following the shootings at Columbine High School. TFT Practitioners in Japan also utilized TFT to help others in the aftermath of the Fukushima Earthquake and the resulting Tsunami. However, TFT practitioners have been especially active in low and middle-income countries such as Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Mexico, and more recently the Kurdistan Region of Iraq where researchers found that Kurdish refugees responded better to TFT than CBT. Now, Professor and researcher Pegah Seidi will be leading a double-blind randomized controlled study with Women in camps for Internally displaced people (IDP). These camps are now home to just under one million IDPs from surrounding areas including Syria.

The study will begin during the second week of June, with the training of lay people residing in the camps to deliver the TFT interventions. The participants in the study will be adult women who are suffering from trauma. One group of participants will be an active waitlist group and receive relaxation exercises and the other group will receive the TFT treatments.  There will be post-testing one week after the treatments and follow-up assessments three months later. We are excited to be able to offer TFT to a group of people who have suffered through several wars and somehow survived. We will keep everyone posted as things progress and of course, donations are always welcome. This is going to be a lot of people to eventually treat!

Suzanne Connolly, LICSW, will be in charge of treatment fidelity and supervise.  She will register the study and ensure it meets high standards for finding a home in a top journal. She will help write up the study.  Please help us and contribute to this humanitarian and research project.  DONATE