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PART III: THEORY
• When survivors tell their stories, ask them to describe and explain their reactions to you.
• Ask survivors if their families should be present during discussions or if they would like to have their religious leaders present.
• Ask survivors if they would like to go to a place of worship or should complete ceremonies or rituals following the crisis.
• Ask survivors to describe what they would like you to do to be of assistance to them, and then tell them truthfully what you can and cannot do.
Useful cross-cultural interventions include: social contact( which reduces isolation); relaxation techniques; meditation; teaching about crisis in culturally relevant terms; and learning techniques that help survivors to understand their emotions and increase their self-esteem( Sieckert).
Bearing these reflections in mind, the following specific questions will be relevant
• What do you call your illness? What name does it have?
• What do you think has caused it?
• Why and when did it start?
• What do you think the illness does? How does it work?
• How severe is it? Will it last for a long or a short time?
• What kind of treatment should you receive? What are the most important results you can expect or hope from treatment?
• What are the main problems the illness has caused?
• What do you fear most about the illness?( Kleinman 1989)