- Centrum '45
Landelijk centrum voor de behandeling van verzetsdeelnemers en oorlogsgetroffenen
Rijnzichtweg 35
2342 AX Oegstgeest
The Netherlands
Phone +31 (71) 5155242
Fax. +31 (71) 5157232
URL http://www.centrum45.nl/
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Janie van Dijk and Bas Schreuder, Oegstgeest
Testimony of trauma. A report from December 2000
- At "Centrum ’45" / "De Vonk" in Noordwijkerhout, the Netherlands, we introduced testimony therapy in our therapy program for traumatized asylum seekers and refugees from countries all over the world. The asylum seekers and refugees at "Centrum ’45" / "De Vonk" often have been victims of brutal war violence or political repression and are suffering from severe posttraumatic stress symptoms. Testimony therapy in ‘our’ format is not a video testimony but a testimony that is recorded and written out on paper. This way of working is inspired by the work of Agger & Jensen, as they wrote about it in their article ‘testimony as ritual and evidence in psychotherapy for political refugees’ (JoTrStress, 3,1,1990, 115-130). The result of the testimony is a written document that can be used by the client in the way he or she wishes. The therapist and the client can discuss how to use this document in a meaningful way. Some clients want to send it to a political or human rights organization. Maybe, for some there will be an archive to send it to, to store their story for the next generations. Others like to use it in their asylum procedure or they just want to keep it for themselves. In our opinion, the essential point in testimony therapy is the sharing of the suffering, the acknowledging of the traumatic events by another person (the ‘therapist as a witness’) and the re-connection with others.
In a more technical language one could say that testimony therapy contains techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy as exposure and cognitive reframing. Testimony therapy at "Centrum ’45" / "De Vonk" confronts us with several challenges. First of all, we have to deal with the language problem. So far, it seems that in general clients are motivated even though they cannot read their testimony themselves because it is written in Dutch (the document is the transcription of the translation by the interpreter). Sometimes clients decline this form of therapy because they are too frightened by the idea of bearing testimony which is written out and edited as a document.
Clients from our outpatient clinic as well as from the (day)clinic participate in our testimony therapy program. We intend to evaluate the effects of the therapy on the posttraumatic stress symptoms. Apart from the ‘regular’ outcome measurements by use of several symptom checklists, we are also looking for qualitative ways of measuring the effect of this therapy. We invite others who have suggestions to contact us at our Email address.
A symposium on "Testimony of Trauma"
"The world will not refrain from acts of violence unless she is willing to analyse her need for violence. I don’t want to arouse abhorrence or pity. I want to give testimony." (Y. Mukagasana, survivor of the genocide in Rwanda [Translation J. van Dijk]).
In May 2001, "Centrum '45" organized a symposium on "Testimony of Trauma". At a criminal tribunal, during an asylum procedure or in therapy, victims of war give testimony of their traumatic experiences. They testify to being persecuted, to their war experiences and to the violent acts which were carried out against them. Their testimonial provides them with the opportunity of having their experiences written down in history or the chance to expose the atrocities and injustices which were carried out against them.
What is the juridical or social effect of the testimony? Why do survivors testify? What is the impact on the victims themselves? International presenters addressed these aspects of testifying during the symposium. The presenters represent various academic fields (psychiatry, psychology, law and history). Some presenters spoke of their own personal experiences.
Presenters were:
Dr. Janie van Dijk, psychotherapist / researcher Centrum '45 at Oegstgeest, Netherlands; Prof. Dr. Dori Laub, psychiatrist / psychoanalyst, acting director Genocide Study Program Yale University, USA; Prof. Dr. Selma Leydesdorff, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands; Ms. Wendy Lobwein, Support Officer Witness Section, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, The Hague, Netherlands; Dr. Sabine Lübben, psychologist and researcher at the Frankfurter Study Group Trauma und Exil, Germany; Mr. Duma Kumalo, staff member Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation at Johannesburg, South Africa; Dr. Jan Wilke Reerds, MBA, manager, Centrum '45 at Oegstgeest, Netherlands; Prof. Dr. Bernard Rimé, Université de Louvain de Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; and Prof. Dr. Bas J.N. Schreuder, psychiatrist / psychoanalyst, acting director director Centrum ‘45 at Oegstgeest, professor at University of Leiden and Nijmegen, Netherlands.
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Short biographical note Dr. Janie van Dijk, M.A., a clinical psychologist, worked as a psychotherapist in the day-clinic "De Schalm" in Amsterdam. The clinic is associated with the "Centrum '45" in Oegstgeest, the Netherlands, a centre for psychiatric or psychotherapeutic treatment of victims of war or organised violence. Van Diijk worked as a researcher at "Centrum '45" until summer 2003. Since then she is working as a psychotherapist in the department for personality disorders in the Altrecht Central Ambulance in Utrecht.
Janie van Dijk
Altrecht, Centraal Ambulante Afdeling
Nieuwe Houtenseweg 2
3524 SH Utrecht
The Netherlands
Phone +31 (30) 280 93 11
Fax. +31 (30) 280 93 99
Email j.a.van.dijk@altrecht.nl
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Citation Janie van Dijk and Bas Schreuder, Oegstgeest, Testimony of trauma. In: TRN-Newsletter 2, Hamburg Institute for Social Research, June 2004.
URL http://www.TraumaResearch.net/net2/forum2/dijk.htm
Copyright © 2004, Janie van Dijk, Bas Schreuder and TRN-Newsletter, all rights reserved. This work may be copied for non-profit educational use if proper credit is given to the author and the trauma newsletter. For other permission questions, please contact via email the editor Cornelia.Berens@his-online.de
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