My Basket 0 item - £0.00

Involuntary Dislocation: Home, Trauma, Resilience, and Adversity-Activated Development

Author(s) : Renos Papadopoulos

Reviews and Endorsements

'Climate change, global inequities, and continued political strife will force increasing numbers of people to flee their homes and struggle to rebuild their lives in new places. In this deeply insightful, critical and creative work, Renos Papadopoulos brings to bear his vast experience in working with refugees and others grappling with dislocation, migration and exile to illuminate their varied predicaments and paths to growth and well-being. In brilliant analyses, he lays bare the epistemological traps of current thinking about trauma and resilience and charts a radical new course. Rich with generative models and metaphors, the frameworks he develops offer powerful ways to understand and respond to the complexities of dislocation through a socially, culturally, and politically informed depth psychology that mobilizes our most human capacities for agency and poiesis.' - Laurence J. Kirmayer, M.D., FRCPC, FCAHS. FRSC, James McGill Professor and Director, Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry, McGill University.

'Renos K. Papadopoulos in his new book has written a brilliant analysis of the suffering and the healing associated with the violent loss of home. He offers us a new way of thinking on a much-neglected area in the fields of medicine, mental health and humanitarian aid. He is a master craftsman, building upon philosophy and science to create a new healing approach called "Synergic Therapeutic Complexity". His therapeutic model is based upon the lifetime experience of a gifted clinician. His book is praised for expanding the trauma story by deeply listening to the poetical "other voice" of human suffering and adversity. A most important contribution to a major topic!' - Richard F. Mollica, M.D. Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Director: Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, USA.

'Though the need to humanise the refugee protection discourse is increasingly understood, the rigid taxonomy that informs the design of refugee support services, in both the statutory and voluntary sectors, systematically fails to acknowledge the subjectivity of the refugee experience. In doing so, the need to personalise the help we offer is often overlooked and the quality of the protection we provide is diminished. In this welcome book, Professor Papadopoulos posits an approach that is rooted in the singularity of the enforced exile experience and questions the efficacy of our utilitarian, one-size-fits-all, asylum system.' - Maurice Wren, Chief Executive, Refugee Council, UK.

'This is a truly remarkable and timely book. We are in the middle of a pandemic, forced migration fuelling violence across the globe, and the rising suicide rate among youth is an alarming indicator of societal distress. Renos doesn't avoid the places in human life where we meet tragedy and profound human suffering; on the contrary, he takes us right into the midst of it, but without being overwhelmed by the misery. His approach, deeply rooted in decades of working with those at the fringes of society, serves as a template for a creative and proactive response to dealing with traumatic experiences. This is exactly what we need in the helping professions, i.e. realistic hope driven by an evidence-based approach that goes well beyond empiricism.' - Frank Roehricht, MD, FRCPsych, Consultant Psychiatrist and Medical Director, East London NHS Foundation Trust; Honorary Professor of Psychiatry, UK.

"This book brings together threads of ancient philosophy together with the author's expertise in psychotherapeutic practice, challenging notions such as the trauma discourse, victimisation, the meaning of home and of well-being. A highly provocative and rewarding contribution." - Professor Renee Hirschon, St Peter's College, University of Oxford, UK.

'No one chooses to be a refugee. Professor Papadopoulos' book is a much-needed eye-opener on the involuntary condition of refugees and the spectrum of their adversity psychosocial responses. Understanding the different layers of their dislocation complexities is a must in a world that has largely dehumanized them.' - Dalal Mawad, award-winning Lebanese journalist and senior producer with the Associated Press.

'Renos's book provides a unique framework to grasp and deal with the phenomena of trauma, resilience and "involuntary dislocation". Its breadth and scope, the variety of themes explored, and his courageous theorisation fundamentally provokes both thought and emotion. Any person working with refugees and trauma will treasure this book, as it provides an inspiring alternative to the traditional approaches, helping mental health workers become reflective, observant and introspective.' - Ayten Zara, Assistant Professor, Bilgi University, Istanbul; Founding Director of World Human Relief

'Drawing upon a wealth of experience, in the academy and the field, Renos Papadopoulos offers us an innovative and brilliant approach to trauma and involuntary dislocation. This book has the potential for transforming the field and the lives of an ever-increasing number of suffering human beings.' - John Behr, PhD; Regius Professor of Humanity, University of Aberdeen, UK.