Mental Health Care at the Borders of Youth, Trauma and Migration: An Exploratory Survey of Mental Health Practitioners

Abstract

ABSTRACT Young asylum seekers and refugees often present with complex mental health needs arising from forced migration, trauma and ongoing legal uncertainty. Existing evidence indicates that mental health practitioners frequently report lower confidence in assessment and intervention when working with asylum seekers and refugees; however, most research to date has focused on adult populations. An exploratory qualitative survey containing open‐ended questions was distributed to mental health practitioners between 1 June and 1 September 2025. Interpretive description guided the inductive analysis of free‐text responses from 116 UK practitioners, of whom over half reported low confidence in working with young asylum seekers and refugees. Three key themes were identified: development of professional confidence, cultural responsiveness and constrained agency. Despite a strong commitment to equitable care, low confidence hinders effective practice. Targeted training for mental health practitioners and protected supervision could enhance practitioner confidence and care quality.