It is impossible to separate the personal from the professional self when working with people who may have been persecuted, tortured or seen loved ones die. They have left family and friends behind and faced a traumatic journey to a safe but unknown country.

Professional support needs to focus on the whole person, as many displaced journalists and media workers live with ongoing trauma. Some also experience compounded trauma due to the build-up of multiple stresses in their lives.

This trauma could be a combination of what they have experienced directly and what they have reported on as journalists: war, torture, rape, mass killings. A journalist may have survivor’s guilt over leaving behind loved ones and colleagues. Arriving in a new country can itself be traumatising, particularly when faced with a hostile immigration system.

Trauma doesn’t only affect displaced journalists. A study by the Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma suggested that 92% of all journalists had experienced at least four traumatic events. These included fires, road accidents, murders, wars, mass casualties, executions and exposure to user-generated content.

But journalists who are refugees can be affected twice over. Awareness of the trauma individuals are experiencing  presently is crucial. Trauma is not just about the past – it is also about now. If something happens to a family member at home, or there is news about the region, or the displaced journalist sees certain content, they could be re-traumatised.