The team

RTI draws on the founding team’s extensive experience of setting up trauma, family counselling and resilience building projects in the UK, Kosovo and the Middle East and of working across cultures, with people who have been traumatised by migration, political conflict and torture. It also draws on the team’s experience of training other professionals and building the capacity of local community workers.

Co-founder

Jenny Altschuler

Jenny Altschuler is a Clinical Psychologist and Family Psychotherapist with over 30 years experience of working with individuals, couples and families (particularly people facing life threatening illness, refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants), training, and supervision as part of the NHS as well as privately…

co-founder

Zarlasht Halaimzai

Zarlasht is a former refugee herself – when she was 11 years old, her family had to flee a terrible civil war in Kabul because their lives were in danger. They made a similar journey to refugees now, crossing Europe for 4 years. Zarlasht works as an Education and Psychosocial Support Advisor to support people who face huge and difficult challenges…

co-founder

David Altschuler

David embarked on a career as a social entrepreneur some 25 years ago. He was Chairman of the Refusenik organisation and then co-founded the One to One Project which led to the formation of One to One Children’s Fund in 2001, with a mission to relieve the suffering of vulnerable children, wherever there is no government or other support…

co-founder

Ariana Faris

Ariana is a systemic and family psychotherapist , trainer and mindfulness teacher practicing in Cardiff, Wales who has been training professionals from the fields of Health care, mental health, education and employment/career guidance and addictions since 1998…. 

CO-FOUNDER

Jeff Faris

Jeff is a Senior Lecturer in Psychotherapy at The Family Institute in the University of South Wales. His duties include specialist teaching in human systems and communication theory and in systemic psychotherapy. He is Chair of the Institute’s Ethics Committee…

RTI COORDINATOR

Marais Pletsch

Marais is a Certified Child Life Specialist, with experience in providing psychosocial support and trauma support for hospitalized children and families…

RTI Coordinator – Northern Greece

Beth Chandler

Beth has been coordinating the RTI project in Idomeni and the other informal camps in Northern Greece since early May. She is currently studying for her Masters in Disaster Management and has been involved in research around the involvement of independent volunteers in the response to the refugee crisis.