The Physician and the Victims of Torture

by | Vol 29 (3/4) 2011

The physician working in a care centre for torture victims cannot practice medicine in the same way as he/she would do elsewhere. He/she must listen to the ravages that are the result of the torture and try to understand the biological mechanisms that operate in the traumatic memory. Displaying an intelligent visual and manual listening of the body enables the treatment of the suffering implied in past and actual experiences of the patient. A multidisciplinary approach is indispensable in order to cope with fragmentation and to restore thought circulation.

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