The author is currently undertaking qualitative research with Unaccompanied Refugee Young People around their experiences of torture, organised violence, imprisonment and in some cases being a child soldier. Therapy has been offered to young people in turn for them agreeing to have their experiences documented.

The sub-plenary will address issues that have arisen for these young people and the author, as their therapist, in the course of the therapy.

The following themes will be addressed in the sub-plenary:

1. How do you construct a narrative across cultures and life experiences? What perceptions do young people have of coming to see a therapist? It is hoped to address the inter-play between the self of the therapist and the young person's experiences and perceptions.

2. The cultural influences that may facilitate or hinder coping efforts in a given context - helping young people to develop a secure and positive identity based on culture of origin as well as learning the 'language' and meanings of the new culture.

3. The use we make of particular models for understanding young people's experiences will determine the kind of therapy that we provide. What are the models of helping and therapy that most facilitate the therapeutic change and where do concepts such as PTSD, cultural bereavement fit in the context of collaborative and self-empowering practices?.

4. Addressing extreme experiences and the significance of a trusting relationship as a means of facilitating therapeutic change. What factors influence that therapeutic relationship and the building of trust?

• How can we have a conversation about the unspeakable?
• Is bearing witness to atrocities enough as a therapeutic intervention?
• How is it possible to connect to the extreme alienation felt by young people, who are so ashamed of the things that they have experienced, as to be silenced?
• Are therapeutic/psychological reports documenting torture a useful means of enabling a therapeutic conversation to take place or does the timing of the report force the pace in a way that is therapeutically unhelpful?

It is hoped that participants will bring experiences from their own therapeutic contexts.