« La malléabilité du cadre thérapeutique comme support d’élaboration sur les terrains de l’aide internationale »

Introduction

In the field of international aid, the projects set up, including psychological care systems, must respond to international and local requirements regarding their financing and sustainability. In these contexts, clinical questions intersect with those of the systems and culture. The traumatic dimension remains prevalent, and these contexts often must deal with multiple local and international requirements. These dimensions can influence the devices set up and their evolution.

Objectives

Through feedback from an action-research conducted in Cambodia, we question the evolutions and adaptations of a therapeutic device with abused children.

Method

For one year, a device based on mediation was proposed for 10 children hosted within a local child protection NGO. We describe here its implementation and its evolution in the field.

Results

The setting up of the system was a vector of different meetings. The adjustments were made in relation to the institutional context, the meetings with the local actors and the specificities of the clinic.

Conclusion

The evolutions of the therapeutic device seem to signify the processes at play, both on the institutional and intersubjective scene. Regarding these field returns, the malleability of the therapeutic devices in these contexts seems to support the expression and the processual evolution, allowing a work of psychic elaboration.