Chapter 19 - Forced displacement from the Northern Triangle region: Implications for clinical intervention and training

Abstract

The Northern Triangle region of Central America consists of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. The region has experienced substantial forced displacement due to a range of factors. The chapter discusses the complexity of factors that contribute to migration in the Northern Triangle (e.g., violence, including femicide and persecution of LGBTQ+communities; poverty, climate change). A case illustration of a family forced to leave Honduras to seek asylum highlights the many components of forced displacement. The chapter discusses the limitations of a push-pull theory of migration and how the theory's focus on making a decision to leave doesn't necessarily correspond with the experience of forced displacement. This discussion is followed by a presentation of the Trilateral Trauma Migration model that presents three aspects of migration: Departure, Migration, and Relocation. The model encourages consideration of all three aspects, rather than focusing on only one area. Amidst the many traumas that those who are forcibly displaced may experience, the relevance of complex posttraumatic stress disorder is discussed as acknowledging multiple traumatic experiences rather than one event. Strategies for psychotherapeutic work with those who have experienced forced displacement are introduced and implications for teaching and training are presented.