Abstract

Background

Problem Management plus (PM+) er low-intensity intervention aimed to enhance mental health and well-being among newly arrived refugees (clients) and is delivered by peers with former refugee- or migrant background (helpers). This study investigates the research question: how do peer-helpers use experiences from their own life as resonance when working with PM+ clients?

Method

Data was collected through eight individual life story interviews with seven female and one male helper with an age span between thirty-three and sixty-two. The helpers had background from Middle Eastern countries, Eastern Europe, Africa and (?) and had lived in Norway between thirty-two and three(?) (?) years. Four had backgrounds from voluntary migration and four had backgrounds from forced migration.

Grounded in social constructivist theory, which posits that truth emerges through interpersonal interaction and contextual influences, this research employed life story interviews with eight helpers working across two Norwegian municipalities. Data analysis utilized Reflexive Thematic Analysis to identify thematic patterns.

Results

Preliminary findings revealed three key themes; Transformation of personal struggle into professional strength where the helpers’ former painful experiences seemed to be understood as a resource in their meetings with the clients which created a sense of meaning to the helper’s adverse experiences. The second theme From Personal Resistance to Professional Empowerment: Helper Identity Shaped Through Experiences of Gender Oppression discusses how the helpers' desire to strengthen women's rights and their own experiences of relational and structural female oppression could contribute to the recognition of different forms of gender-based violence and thus contribute to social support for female clients. The third theme Empathetic Resonance Through Shared Adversity looks into how the helper’s resilience in surviving oppression and poverty, their desire to promote social equality and their recognition of client’s adverse experiences seemed to promote both respect and an empathetic understanding of the clients’ struggles.

Conclusion

The initial conclusion suggests that the helper’s recognition of their clients’ adverse experiences related to adaptation to life-altering changes and different forms of oppression could provide a sense of meaning through helping clients. The growing knowledge of PM+ shows that the intervention can reduce mental health burden among clients. This study suggests that helpers might also benefit from their helper’s role.