Syrian refugee children playing in their informal settlement at Al Faida, in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. Photo: UNICEF/Vanda Kljajo

PODCAST: The Mental Health of Refugee Children

Dr. Mozhdeh Ghasemiyani is a psychologist with Doctors without Borders who escaped a genocide. She is a Kurdish refugee to Denmark and recently delivered a TED Talk describing her refugee experience. In the talk she draws on her knowledge as a psychologist specializing in trauma and PTSD to explain how the traumatic experiences of refugee children can have life long effects.

This episode is in two parts.

First, you will hear that TED talk  (also posted above). Then, Mozhdeh Ghasemiyani  and I have an extended conversation about some of the stories she alludes to in her talk. We discuss the broader political environment that caused her family to flee first from Iran right after the 1979 revolution, and then from Saddam Hussein’s campaign of genocide against the Kurds.

We also have a long conversation about her current work as a psychologist who specializes in working with refugee children and the specific mental health needs of refugee children.

The long term consequence of traumas endured by a record number of refugee children could be a driving force of international affairs for a generation. To understand why, listen to this episode.

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