Episode 63
Mental Health in Refugee Communities with Aisha Koroma
In episode 63 of Immigrant Conversations, Mehran Sorourian hosts Aisha Koroma, a Sierra Leonean-born refugee, licensed psychotherapist, and founder of the Safe Space Project.
Aisha arrived in the U.S. as a young teen after surviving trauma during her refugee journey. Today, she serves as Assistant Director of Social Integration at HIAS, Refugee Congress Delegate for D.C., and leads global mental health initiatives. She holds certifications in Trauma-Informed Care, Gender-Based Violence, and MHPSS from Harvard, WHO, and Johns Hopkins.
In this episode, Aisha discusses:
- Her harrowing refugee journey from Sierra Leone and traumas endured
- Struggles arriving in America as a teenage refugee
- The mental health crisis in refugee communities and cultural stigma
- Why Western therapy models fail displaced populations
- Building trauma-responsive, culturally grounded mental health care
- Practical advocacy for refugee mental health equity
Keywords: refugee mental health, immigrant mental health, trauma-informed care, MHPSS, Sierra Leone refugee, mental health stigma, displaced communities, Safe Space Project, refugee resilience, immigration trauma, refugee experience
Bio:
Aisha Koroma is a Sierra Leonean-born, U.S. resettled refugee who arrived in her early teens and is now a licensed psychotherapist dedicated to advancing mental health equity for displaced and immigrant communities. She holds certifications in Trauma-Informed Care, Gender-Based Violence, and MHPSS in humanitarian settings, with advanced training from Harvard, WHO, and Johns Hopkins. Aisha serves as Assistant Director of Social Integration at HIAS, Refugee Congress Delegate for D.C., and founder of the Safe Space Project, an initiative to destigmatize mental health in refugee communities. She has led global MHPSS efforts with IOM in Qatar, co-founded Texas’ first refugee mental health clinic, and contributed to the field through publications such as The Handbook of Refugee Experience and research on refugee health equity. Her work bridges lived experience and clinical expertise to create trauma-responsive, culturally grounded systems of care.
Connect with Aisha Koroma:
https://www.instagram.com/akcenter4wellbeing?igsh=MWc2ZjdwNXBvbHBwMA==
