Resources for professionals
Handbook: Building Resilience Through Storytelling
Working with Arabic-speaking Communities in Europe
This handbook is one of the key outcomes of our project and is designed for professionals working in mental health, psychosocial support, education, and community settings with Arabic-speaking people living in Europe.
Rather than focusing on cultural differences as barriers, the handbook centres on resilience, meaning-making, and narrative resources that individuals and communities already carry with them.
The approach is grounded in the storytelling method as a tool for strengthening psychological resilience, restoring agency, and supporting mental health in culturally sensitive ways.
What this handbook offers​
A practice-oriented guide that combines theory, reflection, and real-life application, including:
- Understanding resilience through narrative and cultural context
- Using storytelling as a psychosocial and therapeutic tool
- Supporting mental health without reinforcing stigma or shame
- Working with personal and collective stories shaped by migration, loss, continuity, and belonging
- Creating safe spaces for expression, listening, and meaning-making
- Recognising strengths, values, and coping strategies embedded in stories
Who the handbook is for
This handbook is intended for:
- Mental health and psychosocial support professionals
- Therapists, counsellors, and social workers
- Educators and trainers
- NGO staff and community workers
- Professionals working with refugees, migrants, and displaced communities
- No prior experience with storytelling methods is required.
How it can be used
- As a practical guide in everyday professional work
- As a resource for trainings and workshops
- As a reflective tool for teams and organisations
- As a foundation for designing resilience-focused group or community activities
- examples of culturally sensitive interventions
Voices of Resilience | Building mental health literacy and community resilience among Arab-speaking refugees in Europe.