What could you do to help victims of the world’s worst crimes? One man used his background in psychology to help those impacted by mass violence and torture– and eventually created a model replicated throughout the world.
Richard F. Mollica, M.D., is the Director of the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (HPRT) of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. In 1981, Dr. Mollica co-founded the Indochinese Psychiatry Clinic (IPC), and over the past two decades HPRT and IPC have pioneered the mental health care of survivors of mass violence and torture.
Dr. Mollica has received numerous awards for his work and is the author of the newly published book Healing Invisible Wounds: Paths to Hope and Recovery in a Violent World. In 1993, he received the human rights award from the American Psychiatric Association. Under Dr. Mollica’s direction, HPRT conducts training, policy and research activities for traumatized populations around the world. HPRT’s screening instruments are considered a gold standard in the field and have been widely translated into over thirty languages. HPRT’s scientific work has helped place mental health issues at the center of the recovery of post-conflict societies.
Dr. Mollica has published over 160 scientific articles. He and his team over the past 30 years have cared for over 10,000 survivors of extreme violence worldwide. Through his research, clinical work and trainings he is recognized as a leader in the treatment and rehabilitation of traumatized people and their communities.
• Read more about Dr. Mollica’s work with the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma here.
Good People, Good Things 