ABSTRACT

Arc-en-ciel 2: Saisir les étoiles (translated as ‘Playing with Rainbows 2: Reach for the stars’) was a twelve-week group programme conducted with child refugee war survivors (des enfants réfugiés témoins de la guerre) and their classmates at a French-speaking elementary school (École) in a major Canadian city. The group aimed to provide a space for the children to process

their experiences of war trauma and mourn their multiple losses. It also aimed to address intercultural conflict resolution, with emphasis on the subjects of belonging, collaboration and safety in groups. The group ran for twelve weeks, meeting once weekly, for two hours: one hour focusing on individual projects, and another hour on collaborative group work. Three co-therapists facilitated the programme, with about six children each per group.