Everyday Objects in Trauma Therapy: Examining the Material Culture of Young Refugees with the Aim of Trauma Processing

Hosszu, Erzsébet (2022) Everyday Objects in Trauma Therapy: Examining the Material Culture of Young Refugees with the Aim of Trauma Processing. DISEGNO: A DESIGNKULTÚRA FOLYÓIRATA, 6 (2). pp. 94-113. ISSN 2064-7778

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Abstract

Objects help us to integrate, socialise, learn, and mirror our past and self. They also represent our home, as we can take them with us when moving. What happens to our objects when this move is accompanied by the trauma of forced migration? The aim of this paper is to understand the significance of the object, the smallest physical unit of the home, in the recovery processes of trauma caused by forced migration. In parallel with a literature review, this research relies on in-depth interviews and the author’s ten years of field experience in refugee communities in Hungary, Switzerland, Belgium and Palestine. The literature review explores the importance of objects in the context of migration, highlighting the roles of them in the process of socialising with others, learning new skills, developing our own self, transforming our home and surviving a challenge. According to the literature, objects can create a safe and well known environment, they can materialise the past and culture, therefore they can help to recall memories and they can also have a significant role in reconnecting us to life, since they integrate us into new communities. According to the interviews, the coping strategies have more to do with activity and social connections and less with everyday objects due to the trauma of forced migration. Taking advantage of the general nature of objects, the coping mechanism of forced migrants and loose object attachment, objects can become a neutral tool of trauma therapy. From the results, a design therapy toolkit will be created for professionals, educators and therapists, which can support processing trauma by developing place and object attachment.

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