Intercultural psychotherapy research

Background

In 2021, 22.6 million of Germany's 82.3 million inhabitants had a migration and/or refugee background (immigrants and their descendants), representing 27.5 percent of the total population (Federal Agency for Civic Education, 2023). Since the beginning of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, the number of Ukrainians in Germany alone has increased dramatically. In November 2022, over 1 million Ukrainian citizens were living in Germany, almost seven times more than at the end of February 2022 (Federal Statistical Office, 2023). Despite these high numbers, the psychiatric and psychotherapeutic care system is still largely unable to adequately treat people with a migration and refugee background, as they require therapeutic care tailored to their specific life circumstances in the event of mental illness (Graef-Callies & Schouler-Ocak, DGPPN, 2023).

What is the significance of mental illness and psychotherapy in different cultures? What necessary modifications to the psychotherapeutic process, diagnostics, and communication techniques arise in the context of culturally sensitive psychotherapeutic interventions? What professional intercultural competencies do psychotherapists require?

Through intercultural psychotherapy research, we pursue, among other goals, the adaptation of psychotherapy for people with a migration background and asylum seekers in Germany, thereby ensuring the best possible treatment. Within the context of our third mission, we are currently implementing two studies that aim to conduct and evaluate a context-adapted short-term therapy, Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), for asylum seekers from Ukraine (IPT-U). These studies pursue several sub-goals: (a) enabling psychotherapy for asylum seekers with mental health disorders in the face of war, flight, and displacement; (b) empowering therapists to work with asylum seekers; and (c) personalizing and adapting psychotherapy in the context of migration, war, and displacement, including the evaluation of cultural adaptation and the investigation of feasibility and mechanisms of action.


IPT-U The study "Interpersonal Psychotherapy for People from Ukraine" (IPT-U; starting October 2022) focuses on adult asylum seekers from Ukraine and is being conducted as part of the project "Psychological Support for Asylum Seekers and Helpers in Western Pomerania" (PHil@SH-VP). For more information on PHil@SH-VP, see:

Counseling Services in the Context of the War in Ukraine - Faculty - University of Greifswald (uni-greifswald.de)

The study "Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Ukrainian Children and Adolescents" (IPT-KJU; starting January 2023) is part of the project "Psychological Support for Children, Adolescents, and Their Families Seeking Protection from Ukraine" (PHil@SKJF-U) and therefore includes children aged 8 and older and their parents. This study will conduct and research IPT-A as well as family-based IPT. For more information about PHil@SKJF-U, see:

Support services for children, young people, and their families in the context of the war in Ukraine - Faculty - University of Greifswald (uni-greifswald.de)

  • Prof. Dr. Anna-Lena Zietlow, Technical University of Dresden, Chair of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology
  • Center for Psychological Psychotherapy (ZPP) Greifswald and Center for Psychotherapy for Children and Adolescents (ZPKJ)
  • Language and Cultural Mediators
  • Regional sponsors (Mayor of Greifswald, Dr. Fassbinder; Sparkasse Vorpommern)
  • Robert Bosch Foundation
  • Child protection organization "Save the Children"n“