1st Edition

A Psychoanalytic Approach to Refugee Mental Health Safe Harbor

By Chrysi Giannoulaki Copyright 2025
166 Pages
by Routledge

166 Pages
by Routledge

166 Pages
by Routledge

A Psychoanalytic Approach to Refugee Mental Health reflects on psychoanalytic work with vulnerable people during the refugee crisis. Chrysi Giannoulaki describes her work as a supervisor of groups of caregivers dealing with the mental health of refugees and occasionally as a psychiatrist of refugees in Moria, Lesvos, and in Athens. The book explores work with complex refugee cases that... Read more

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1 

Language and Silence

Chapter 2 

Dream and Daydreaming

Chapter 3  

Male Friendship and Homosexuality

Chapter 4  

Violence and Women

Chapter 5

Identity and Mourning

Chapter 6

Forms of Repetition

Chapter 7

“Difficult” Refugees and Sex-Work

Chapter 8

Mourning and Nostalgia

Chapter 9

Psychosis and Violence

Chapter 10

Understanding and Explaining Ruptures and Reconstruction

Chapter 11

Counter-Transference and Xenos

Chapter 12

Intergenerational Transmission: Memory and Oblivion

Conclusion

Biography

Chrysi Giannoulaki is a psychiatrist and a training analyst of the Hellenic Psychoanalytic Society. She is a full member of the Psychiatry and Art Section of the Hellenic Psychiatric Association, whose actions aim to enhance awareness of racism and xenophobia. Chrysi has been working with refugees since 2016.

“A remarkable book as it exposes the complex destinies of refugees through encounters with individuals and groups.  The author uses herself as a tool in understanding the unique mental and social situations of the “Refugee People” in a way that makes the reader understand better what it means to be a human being under such extreme circumstances. In this way, they come alive in the reader's mind and hopefully also contribute to the better of an important group of our fellow human beings.”
Sverre Varvin, Professor Emeritus, OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University, Training Analyst Norwegian Psychoanalytic Society

“A Psychoanalytic Approach to Refugee Mental Health: Safe Harbor is a groundbreaking exploration that offers profound insights into human resilience, trauma, and healing. By illuminating the complex psychological landscapes of refugees and their caregivers, Chrysi Giannoulaki provides a compassionate, nuanced approach to understanding displacement, violence, and the restoration of human connection. The book is a vital contribution to our understanding of trauma and the transformative potential of psychoanalytic practice.”
Danielle Knafo, author of Living with Terror, Working with Trauma: A Clinician’s Handbook

“This book addresses a crucial current problem: the movement of refugee populations whose tragic adversity in integrating into a foreign society is exacerbated by a lack of understanding of their mental reality. Dr Chrysi Giannoulaki, with her empathy and scientific systematicity, highlights the difficulties of communicating with people from different cultural traditions. Reading this book is particularly interesting and valuable for those involved in helping refugees. It is about expanding the possibilities when dealing with a permanent feature of contemporary global political and cultural development.”
Dr Nikolaos Tzavaras, Honorary President of the Hellenic Psychiatric Association, Training Analyst of the Hellenic Psychoanalytic Society