Their common thread: the need to flee into exile

Having just arrived in France, often in degrading, inhumane conditions, most of our patients are asylum seekers or refugees. None of them have gladly decided to flee their country to seek asylum elsewhere.

Our patients are direct or indirect victims of torture, terror, and war and were forced to escape in an attempt to save their own life. Exile was not a choice among several, but a necessity.

These survivors knew how to stand up in the face of horror. They chose to fight without once giving up. They opted for freedom over tyranny, for honour over shame and humiliation.

The former socio-economic status of our patients in their home country varies widely

Merchants, artisans, politicians, farmers, or doctors, their professions cover a large spectrum but share a point in common: their quality of life was generally (but to varying extents) satisfactory.

Multiple histories, a multitude of suffering

Every man, woman, or child reacts to the experience of being tortured according to their personality. The intensity of the trauma they endured and their capacity to rebuild their life do not depend solely on the degree of cruelty inflicted upon them.

While common symptoms (troubled sleep, memory problems, irritability, anxiety, etc.) do exist and help diagnose a case of post-traumatic stress syndrome, every patient is unique. That is why, besides the documented symptoms, it is impossible to describe a typical profile capable of summing up our patients; every case is as one-of-a-kind as the patients themselves.

Our healing centre team pays particular attention to Foreign Unaccompanied Minors. Fragile and vulnerable, these children or young adults arrive in France without any family or means to get their bearings; consequently, they suffer from feelings of extreme emotional, cultural, and social isolation.