Mental health providers should build a therapeutic relationship based on respect, trust and safety.

The following are recommendations for treating survivors:



✅Conduct interviews in private, confidential spaces.



✅Provide language interpreters, if needed.



✅Frame and ask questions and statements with empathy and nonjudgment.



✅Be mindful of the language or communication you use as a tool to improve communication.



✅Try not to discuss too quickly the trauma that survivors endured. It can increase the risk of

dissociation and feeling overwhelmed.



✅Conduct a suicide risk assessment and danger assessments.



✅Focus on a collaborative approach. After appropriate concerns are obtained, other service

providers should be involved in the patient’s care.



✅Consider incorporating culturally sensitive care to survivors.



✅Document all interactions, especially those in which the survivor presents psychological distress,

dissociative symptoms or substance misuse.