ARQ Summer Assembly

Social conditions and ongoing adversity, such as violence, poverty, and exclusion, have a significant impact on mental health—even during psychotrauma care. As a result, treatment requires more than just clinical expertise. Life history, cultural background, economic factors, migration, stigma, and the political climate—all of these can play a role in how trauma is experienced and how recovery becomes possible.

In these challenging times, as wars continue to plague the world, we increasingly see their consequences and influence reflected in the therapy room. The war continues to live on there. Those affected remain connected to the conflict situation and the people still living in it. In some cases, there is the possibility that they may have to return to the unsafe environment. These are contexts that are difficult to grasp but are crucial to understand in order to provide better treatment.

What impact do war, poverty, exclusion, and the potential return to a conflict zone have on treatment? How do we, as care providers, relate to these contexts? How can we incorporate this knowledge and understanding into our therapeutic approach? And what can we learn from the experiences of others?

Programme 1 July 2025

During the ARQ Summer Assembly 'The War in the Therapy Room: The Influence of Context in Treatment', we will explore these questions and more from different perspectives. Among other things, we will reflect on how context influences the experience of trauma. We will take you across borders and shed light on the experiences of (outreach) care providers who work daily in conflict zones to support people on the ground. In addition, we will look at the lessons learned by these care providers and by people with lived experience.

The ARQ Summer Assembly offers a platform to share experiences and insights from various war zones, so that we can learn from one another and jointly find ways to work more effectively. We look forward to engaging in this important conversation with you.

The event times are: walk-in 4:15 PM, start 4:30 PM and end 6:30 PM.

You are very welcome to join! Attendance is free. The main language is English. Food and drinks are provided. The full program will be announced at a later date. Don’t forget to register on time. Can’t be there on location? You can also follow the assembly online and ask questions.

You can register by sending an email to academy@arq.org stating: Registration for ARQ Summer Assembly 1 July 2025

Participate in the ARQ Winter Assembly and strengthen connection, collaboration and development within mental health care.

_{This accredited event is organized by ARQ Centrum’45 and ARQ Academy, both part of ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre.}