Editorial by Paul Tibbles in dialogue with Ncazelo Ncube
This edition of Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry (CCPP) has developed in the context of ongoing and increasing international alarm at the levels of displaced children, young people and families seeking refuge from persecution, war and economic privations. Initially as special editor, my focus was on how to promote articles which addressed the immediate and long-term needs of these people and the therapeutic care that should be made available to them. However, I was aware of divergent views that existed between some practitioners who focussed on addressing trauma, while others were attentive to promoting resilience. Among the many other issues which I considered important were the long-term effects on parents of losing a child during conflict, cultural sensitivity of services, the wider political context, and the impact of vicarious trauma and vicarious resilience on health and social care staff. I think that the articles in this edition cover many of these issues which are highly relevant when addressing the psychological well-being of displaced and persecuted children and families. Although these articles are derived from different parts of the globe, they inevitably reflect a bias towards researchers and clinicians originating from more affluent recipient countries rather than the perspective of those working in emerging economies. It was with this in mind that I approached Ncazelo Ncube to ask her to engage with me in an email dialogue about our different perspectives on how best to promote the psychological development and well-being of children, young people and families seeking asylum and refuge. Ncazelo is well known for her work in South Africa using narrative approaches with displaced children (Ncube, 2006). Our email dialogue is located below and, as can be gathered, there was considerable reflection about our own history and cultural context and how that impacted on the way we made sense of what we experienced and the ramifications of this on our work. Paul: Life contains periodic poignant coincidences and such an incident happened to me while preparing to write this editorial. A number of unexpected conjunctions in my own life had ramifications and connections with my thinking about the victims of war, refugee families and unaccompanied children seeking sanctuary. Prior to starting to write the editorial, I was called to jury service for a trial in a part of London where I had moved to from Devon almost 40 years earlier. At that time, it was a desolate and empty area of derelict warehouses surrounded by the last remaining bombsites in the city. I revelled in being able to walk through this during the working week without seeing another person. It was truly Dickensian. Now, it has some of the most expensive real estate in the country, there are vast crowds of people walking along its footpaths and the last remaining physical memories of World War II have been erased. The 755775 CCP0010.1177/1359104518755775Clinical Child Psychology and PsychiatryEditorial editorial2018
"What are the experiences of education for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Minors in the UK?"
BACKGROUND
The number of refugees worldwide has increased in recent years and with this, there has been an increase in the numbers of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Minors (UASMs) in the UK. Refugees have been found to experience notable difficulties upon resettlement and there is evidence to suggest that education can provide a supportive role for young refugees. Although there has been research that has found that UASMs value education, there has been less research that has directly looked at the experiences of education for UASMs.


METHODS
In the present study, six UASMs were interviewed and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used as a methodology to analyse the data.


RESULTS
Five themes were identified: Education facilitating socialising; Education and English proficiency leading to a better life in the UK; the impact of transitions; the impact of external stressors; and a desire for additional resources to learn at one's own pace.


CONCLUSIONS
Participants within the present research expressed a strong desire for additional resources that would allow them to learn at their own pace. They also emphasised how transitions between different settings and external stressors had an impact on their experiences of education. The links between coping strategies and the participant's asylum status are also discussed with reference to relevant research in the field.
Voice hearing and pseudoseizures in a Māori teenager: an example of mate Māori and Māori traditional healing
Objective: The aim of this paper is to describe a Māori traditional healing approach to assessment and treatment of distressing psychiatric symptoms in a young man. Method: We describe the case of a 17 year old Māori male with voice hearing and pseudoseizures and the assessment and intervention by one of the authors (WN). We report on the young man’s and his family’s experience of this treatment. We outline concepts from a Māori world view that illuminate an indigenous rationale for this approach. Results: A single session traditional Māori healing intervention was associated with immediate resolution of this young man’s psychiatric symptoms and restoration of his sense of wellbeing, despite cessation of antipsychotic treatment. He and his family felt satisfied with the cultural explanation about the origin of his distress, which was congruent with their world view. He remained well at follow-up one year later. Conclusions: Collaboration between psychiatrists and traditional Māori healing practitioners can enhance the mental health care of Māori whaiora (service users) and their families. Indigenous research is required to further evaluate the acceptability and effectiveness of such joint approaches.