Impact of recounting trauma stories on the emotional state of Cambodian refugees

Twenty Cambodian refugees with premigration histories of trauma received an average of 16 sessions of individual therapy from a Cambodian bicultural counselor at a trauma treatment center in Sydney, Australia. Nineteen of the 20 patients reported that during treatment they had been willing to talk about their trauma histories, a finding that raises doubts about the commonly held belief that Asians are not psychologically minded and avoid disclosing emotionally sensitive information to health care workers. However, self-disclosing therapy alone did not appear to benefit these patients. Only four patients found talking about their trauma story directly helpful in improving their emotional state, and three of the four found the relief to be transitory.