ABSTRACT
Narrative exposure therapy (NET) is a short-term treatment for traumatic stress disorders following war, civil conflict, and political violence, including torture. NET has been developed by a team of researchers and clinicians at the University of Konstanz, in collaboration with the Vivo Foundation, an alliance of professionals specializing in the fields of trauma, humanitarian aid, and field research. NET is designed for traumatized adults, but there is also a child-friendly version in the form of KIDNET. NET is culturally sensitive because it builds on the universal tradition of storytelling. NET is manualized (see Schauer, Neuner, & Elbert, 2005) and was designed to be easily implemented, so as to make effective, trauma-focused intervention more easily available in refugee camps and settlements. It aims to address socio-political aspects of healing, and it fits well with working through interpreters, because it does not rely on finely tuned appraisals and meanings that may get lost in translation. It has a clear conceptual basis and a strong human rights focus and is designed to be delivered in a wide range of circumstances and situations, in the field as well as in more traditional therapeutic settings.
