The Lost Boys of Sudan Essay

Essay Prompt

The movie The Lost Boys of Sudan - 1) Discuss the initial issues presented (if referred to therapy) by individuals and families in the process of re-location to another country. 2) What are ongoing issues as individuals and families get settled in another country? Describe the issues for the individuals in the specific video viewed in your class. 3) Consider and discuss how you would establish rapport with individuals in the initial phase of therapy; how would you engage individuals and families initially? 4) As individuals and families get settled (and re-settled) into the new country, how does the situation change for various individuals or the family? As individuals adjust, what issues would you focus on if you were their therapist? Address the issues for each person. 5) Do you think you would do short term therapy (6-12 sessions) or long term treatment (12-24 sessions) if you had the option? Which would be best model or theoretical orientation for individuals or families who migrate to another country? 6) Discuss a treatment plan for individuals or families who migrate to another country. What issues may emerge as individuals or families continue to adjust to their life in the new country? 8) What referrals would you consider at the beginning phase or middle phase of therapy? Towards the end of the video (you watched in class), as you see their situation, what referrals would you consider for various individuals or families?

TWO REQUIRED TEXTS:

Castillo, R.J. (1997). Culture and mental illness: A client-centered approach. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole. ISBN: 9780534345587

McGoldrick. M., Pearson, J. & Giordano, J. (2005). Ethnicity and family therapy. New York: Guilford Press. ISBN: 9781593850203

The author of this report has been asked to synthesize and answer questions relating to the movie The Lost Boys of Sudan. All of the questions relate to therapy and counseling relating to the environments and scenarios in the movie. The questions that will be answered to include the initial therapy issues in the movie, the ongoing issues that the families and individuals are encountering in the movie, how one would establish a rapport with the locals once in a new country, how situations change once new entrants to a country get acclimated, whether short-term therapy or long-term therapy would be a better option, a treatment plan that would be best for either individuals or families when they enter the country, the issues that would emerge and what referrals would or should be considered when it comes to all of the above. While some people are able to immigrate into a new country relatively smoothly and with little major issue, the culture shock present and adjustments needed when it comes to immigrating from a country like Sudan are substantial in many to most cases and therapy would be an integral part of meeting that challenge.

Analysis

Of course, the movies premise is the actual lost boys of Sudan that were displaced from Sudan over the curse of the second Sudanese Civil War. That war ran a long time, that being from the 1980s to the 2000s, or roughly a generation. Per the PBS website, about four thousand of the larger group of Sudanese orphans and otherwise displaced children ended up in the United States (PBS,…