PhD defense of Gwladys DEMAZURE on 11/10/22


PhD defense of Gwladys DEMAZURE from TIMC ThEMAS on november, the 10th at 9am:

" Therapeutic care of unaccompanied refugee minors:
from an overview to adapted therapeutic approaches "

bullet Jury:

  • Céline Baeyens, Professeure, Université Grenoble Alpes, Supervisor
  • Nicolas Pinsault, Maître de conférences, Université Grenoble Alpes, Co-supervisor
  • Michel Boutanquoi, Professeur, Université de Franche-Comté, Reporter
  • Lucia Romo, Professeure, Université Paris Nanterre, Reporter
  • Virginie Scolan, Professeure des Universités - Praticienne Hospitalière, Université Grenoble Alpes, Examiner
  • Sydney Gaultier, Maître de conférence, Université de Lausanne, Examiner

 

bullet  Keywords:  

unaccompanied refugee minors; mental health; post-traumatic stress; psychotherapeutic intervention; care.

bullet Abstract:

Since the 2000s, the increase in the number of arrivals of unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) has aroused the interest of many Western countries and the research community. Concerns have developed regarding the mental health status of these young people, who arrive without legal representation after having crossed several thousand kilometers and multiple traumatic situations, impacting their mental and physical health. This thesis focused on the therapeutic treatments to be provided to URMs to improve their mental health. To do so, we conducted a scoping review and a literature review, two quantitative studies and one qualitative study. The aim of these studies was to explore the perceptions of the different populations (URMs, psychologists, institutional managers), to propose adapted therapeutic approaches, and to carry out an overview of French psychotherapeutic care.
The results of our studies show a discrepancy between the practices of psychologists in France and the practices from the protocols tested in the literature, which are rather oriented towards protocols from cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBT). URMs seem to be satisfied with their meetings with psychologists, even if these meetings are few. Psychologists were less satisfied with their therapeutic relationship but perceived fewer barriers to establishing it with URMs than with the general population. However, the political choices and the lack of financial and human resources of the structures result in a low availability of mental health professionals. It therefore seems necessary to raise awareness and change the practices of all professionals who work with URMs, in order to provide them with the care they need. Further research, close to and adapted to the field, is still necessary to test the effectiveness of a transdiagnostic type of psychotherapeutic intervention.