Therapeutic Approaches

with support from IRCT, CSVR supported survivors of apartheid state violence through body mapping which allows survivors to share their stories through visual depictions, storytelling, art, visualisation, group discussion and self-reflection.

Torture leaves deep and lasting physical, psychological, and emotional wounds. Survivors often struggle with severe PTSD, anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and a profound loss of identity, agency, and connection to others. Specialised therapy is essential to help them process these experiences, reduce isolation, and gradually regain a sense of safety and control over their lives, memories, and bodies.

With nearly 50 years of experience, IRCT is the world’s largest network of health professionals dedicated to this work. Its 173 member centres across 80 countries provide specialised rehabilitation tailored to the complex needs of torture survivors. Practitioners can read more about the Global Standards on Rehabilitation here.

Treatment approaches span a wide range of evidence‑based methods. Talk‑based, trauma‑focused psychotherapies include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Prolonged Exposure (PE), Eye Movement Desensitization, Resilience-Oriented Therapy (ROT), and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET). These are complemented by body‑based and creative therapies such as Somatic Experiencing (SE), Art, Music, and Play Therapy, as well as mindfulness, yoga, and traditional medicinal approaches. Support can be offered individually, in groups, or within families, ensuring survivors receive care that meets them where they are on their healing journey.

Download the posters in English, french, Spanish or Arabic here

Paths to Recovery: Cultural Perspectives on Healing After Torture

Pathways to Healing: Resilience-Oriented, Intensive Trauma Therapy & Creative Collage

Pathways to Healing: Diverse Therapeutic Approaches for Torture Rehabilitation

Confronting Fear: Exposure Treatment Therapy

Ukraine: Psychosocial Support to Individuals Experiencing Trauma

Survivor Trauma Approaches: Experiences from VAST and CSU

My Heart’s Sister: A Project Exploring Women’s War Experiences and Trauma Treatment in Sweden

Group therapy can offer survivors of torture a safe, guided space to reconnect with others after experiences designed to break trust and isolate them. Meeting with others who share similar experiences can reduce isolation, rebuild trust, and restore social connection.

Group therapy has been found to help survivors of torture to process the deep impacts of torture, displacement, and violence, as well as manage symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, and depression while strengthening coping skills and emotional regulation. Many groups also include body‑based practices to address physical trauma.

A Problem Shared: Group Intervention for Trauma Treatment.

Through shared stories, mutual support, and collective healing, survivors can regain confidence, rebuild their identity, and experience renewed hope that extends into their families and communities.

Restoring Power: Gender-Responsive Care for Women Survivors of Sexual Torture

Children experience torture in ways that differ fundamentally from adults because their brains, identities, and emotional regulation systems are still developing. Trauma can interrupt this development, leading to intense fear responses, regression, and long‑term difficulties with trust, learning, and relationships.

Effective rehabilitation combines child‑focused, trauma‑informed therapy with strong family support, helping rebuild safety, stability, and emotional connection. With consistent care and community‑based interventions, children can gradually recover and regain a sense of security.

Read more about Children and Torture here.

Treating Children as Primary or Secondary Survivors of Torture

Sexual torture is used to punish, intimidate, coerce, or discriminate against individuals, and it exploits power imbalances to degrade or destroy a person’s dignity. It affects people of all genders and ages and occurs in contexts such as detention, armed conflict, displacement settings, and situations of dependency or control.

Sexual torture causes profound and long‑lasting harm that extends across psychological, physical, and social dimensions. Survivors may experience suicidality, Post‑Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, insomnia, personality changes, and sexual dysfunction, alongside intense feelings of shame, guilt, emotional instability, and, in some cases, self‑harm.

Read more about Sexual Torture here.

Sexual Torture: Intervention and Treatment

In most, if not all, societies, people whose sexual orientation or gender identity are different from the heterosexual cisgender majority, face a range of discrimination and often violence. That makes them uniquely exposed to torture and other ill-treatment.

Member centers around the world have reported having provided healing services to torture survivors who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex or gender diverse (LGBT+). We want to explore the specificities and challenges in both, the rehabilitation and legal protection processes of LGBT+ individuals (e.g. disclosure, identity, protection, etc.).

Read more about Torture and LGBT+ here

Working with Torture Survivors Who Self-Identify as LGBT+