Refugees and Clinical Psychology Meeting Outside the Clinic: Understanding the Role of Community, Outdoor and Natural Environments in Place Attachment

Systematic Literature Review: 32 papers relating to refugee and practitioner experiences of community nature-based interventions (NBIs) were reviewed to explore their role in promoting post-migratory place attachment (PA) (emotional bonds with physical environments). Ar8cles were analysed using thematic synthesis, with constructed themes including: (Re)connecting Host Countries with Origin Countries via Reconnecting with Past Identities and Reclaiming Food Sovereignty; Creating and Embedding into Community Spaces, influenced by Developing Social Capital Through Community Engagement, Enhancing Social Identity and Familial Relationships and Navigating Sociopolitical Landscapes; Promoting Holistic Wellbeing by Engaging the Body, Relief and Problem-Solving, and Spiritual and Symbolic Relationships with Nature. Reviewed studies were of high quality although contained limitations including: using mostly adult samples, difficulty disentangling refugee from non-refugee migrant views and mainly represen8ng refugee than practitioner perspectives and posi8ve pre- and post-migratory PA and nature connection experiences. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, including co-producing community NBIs beyond agrarian contexts with refugees and including sociopolitical influences in PA theory.

Empirical Study: Informed Grounded Theory was used to explore how and whether 15 refugees redeveloped PA following displacement and the extent to which outdoor and natural environments featured in this. The study was also shaped through involving three consultors with lived and/or professional experience relating to refugee and asylum seeker people. Constructed themes centred on dynamic interactions between Sociopolitical Influences, Personal Losses and Strengths, Place-Based Interactions (the role of places in Self-Continuity of Identity and Embodied and Restorative Experiences) and, lastly, participants’ experiences of Conflicted Belonging: Navigating Place Attachments Between Origin Countries and England. Perspectives were nuanced, linking PA, nature connection and clinical psychology practice. Implications are discussed in relation to the need for forced migration policy, and clinical psychology practice and training, to incorporate refugee PA and physical environment considerations into refugee integration and healing. Future research avenues are also discussed.