Dr Lydia Gitau

I specialise in research on psychosocial factors that influence trauma recovery and peacebuilding in conflict contexts, with a focus on refugees and asylum seekers.  I have previously worked in the field in Kenya, for NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS), and as a research fellow at the fEEL (felt Empathy and Experience Lab) at UNSW’s Big Anxiety Research Centre. My community work seeks to foster deep, mutually beneficial relationships between university researchers and industry and the community. My research is focused on examining and engaging in post-conflict interventions that have potential to support long-lasting peace for survivors of forced migration and mass violence. I investigate different ways of engaging with refugee survivors of torture and trauma to facilitate a shift towards healing, and I am committed to decolonising research methodologies.