Seeking Asylum and Mental Health—A Practical Guide for Professionals, Chris Maloney, Julia Nelki and Alison Summers (eds)

Abstract

Seeking Asylum and Mental Health opens with a powerful Foreword from Dr Waheed Arian, an Afghan refugee who sought refuge at the age of fifteen. His testimony sets the tone for the piece, which aims to be rooted within the experience of those who have been forced to flee their home and are attempting to navigate the asylum process. The title establishes its role to be a practical guide for professionals and, whilst it provides an eloquent and robust exploration of the asylum process, in terms of a practical guide it could have benefited from conclusions at the end of each chapter offering suggestions for practice directly taken from that chapter. The text is interspersed with the testimonies of asylum seekers, refugees and practitioners which make powerful statements. It does feel like a missed opportunity, as acknowledged within the opening statement, that none of the authors have lived experience of seeking asylum.