Therapies for Trauma and Torture
Survivors of childhood abuse and neglect and victims of political torture may share similar traumatic wounds and may be helped by intervention and intensive therapy. Those who have been subjected to torture, atrocities and other forms of organized violence, and refugees from terror zones often need specialized medical and psychological treatment and legal advocacy. 

Appropriate and non-invasive therapy can help individuals perceive the origins of fear, frustration, rage, and grief, and gain tools to gently shift traumatic and imprinted memory/belief patterns (as seen in survivors of cults and religious indoctrination) without harsh disruption of the “limbic” bond.  Emerging treatments may be tailored to individual brain patterns and imbalances.

There are many treatments for ameliorating the effects of abuse and neglect and torture, from intervention to intensive therapy. 

Supportive healing methods for trauma

• Nurturing therapy for neglected children
  
• Family therapy and counseling
  
• Psychological outreach in violent urban areas/war zones
  
• Security blanket for children in hospitals
  
• Sensitive PTSD therapies
  
• Fetal alcohol syndrome parenting techniques
  
• Neuroplasticity repatterning for brain injury
  
• Bursting the bubble: Activating the disillusionment and questioning process
• Process of cult recovery: Dissonance, disorientation and then reorientation, rebuilding resilience

Links to Programs

Centers for the Rehabilitation of Torture Survivors

• AMANI Trust —Harare, Zimbabwe
  
• Bellevue-NYU Program for Survivors of Torture
  
• Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture --Toronto, Ontario
  
• Center for Victims of Torture --Minneapolis, MN
  
• Centre:45 
• Dutch National Center for the Treatment of members of the Resistance and  Victims of War
• Etica Treatment Center 
  
• Treatment Center for Traumatised Refugees, Migrants and Danes (Copenhagen, Denmark)
• Gaza Community Mental Health Programme
  
• ICODO 
  
• National Institute for Victims of War (Utrecht, Netherlands)
  
• Kwaziulu-Natal Programme for Survivors of Violence (Durham, South Africa)
  
• MRCT Medical Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims 
• National Consortium or Torture Treatment Programs
  
• Norwegian Center for Studies on Violence and Traumatic Stress
  
• Rocky Mountain Survivors Center --Denver, Colorado
  
• SPA Society for Psychological Assistance —Zagreb, Croatia
• Survivors International --San Francisco, California 
  
• Survivors of Torture International
  
• The Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas (CSHRA)
  

International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims
The IRCT is a health-based umbrella organisation that supports the rehabilitation of torture victims and the prevention of torture worldwide. Our members comprise more than 140 independent organisations in over 70 countries.Our work is governed by these member organisations. Today, we are the largest membership-based civil society organisation to work in the field of torture rehabilitation and prevention.

The Neurobiology of Psychological Torture
The UCDavis Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas (CSHRA) and the UCDavis Center for Mind and Brain (CMB) have initiated a collaboration to investigate the neurobiology of psychological torture.  

The CSHRA and the CMB launched their collaborative efforts by holding The First UCDavis Workshop on the Neurobiology of Psychological Torture. Supplemented by studies on the social, historical, and ethical ramifications of PT, the presentations made at The First UCDavis Workshop on the Neurobiology of Psychological Torture have been just published as The Trauma of Psychological Torture. Listen to an interview about this volume on National Public Radio. Read the review in Metapsychology Online Reviews.