It’s difficult for people who can choose to move to understand the experience of forced migration or displacement. It’s enormously distressing – physically, financially, socially, for family life, not to mention if the circumstances were terrifying. Then there’s the capital 'T' of trauma, if someone has witnessed horrifying events, or been persecuted, arrested or detained.

Refugee journalists have an extra layer of resilience and additional vulnerabilities. As storytellers they may articulate what they've seen, which helps them survive, but the flipside is that they suffer trauma. They have been forced to leave because of a job they love, knowing their families may be targeted or harmed. It’s a form of psychological injury.

I start [my sessions] by asking people what language they want to use to talk about their wellbeing. The word 'trauma' is different in many cultures. I explore this to understand if they have a word for it and what it means. I worked with an Arabic speaker who, via an interpreter, explained that the phrase I was using meant 'a shock'. Although that was appropriate in some ways, it was different to ‘hurt’, ‘persecution’ or ‘fear’, which are also trauma-laden words.

As the host community, it’s important to avoid introducing your cultural concepts into language used to describe suffering. I use words like ‘adaptation’, ‘adjustments’ and ‘hurt’ rather than ‘trauma’ and ‘resilience’, which are Western semi-medicalised terms. I'll ask, 'What did you do to adapt to the hurt you and your family experienced?' or 'How did you handle your fear/pain of what happened to your country?'.

It is sometimes best if the refugee journalist can speak their language rather than struggling with yours, as they may not feel they are communicating their ideas. There are linguistic and culturally determined values and concepts of wellbeing and distress. If you impose your perceptions of what a person has gone through and how they’re coping, you'll get a lot wrong. What you miss might be what they’re struggling with. Listen and hear! Ask questions about their experience, 'What are the challenges?' 'What are your needs and goals?' 'How are you feeling?'.

Whether you're a caregiver or an organisation, you can remind displaced people of their ‘survivalhood’. It’s good to say, ‘You've been through so much, and adapted.’ Acknowledge what you see.

If you meet people who do not see or identify themselves as traumatised, you don’t have to persuade them. If someone says their experiences are nothing compared to others, that’s their truth. You can say, ‘I hear you, it's natural to think of others who've suffered more. You left behind a lot, and that must be painful.’ You are respecting someone's definition, recognising their views and not forcing labels on them about adversity or trauma.