Sampling procedure
psychoses, word of mouth
Participants had been made aware of the services of the Ipso Care Center through different channels such as advertisements, referrals from health care professionals and social workers, and word of mouth. Those who showed interest in being counseled received verbal and written information on the study and conditions for participation. An information sheet presented details in Farsi, Arabic, French, English, and German as well as contact details of the study coordinator. Participants had at least ten days to read the information sheet, to contact the coordinator for further questions and to decide whether they wanted to participate in the study. If they did not agree, they could proceed with the regular counseling service.The inclusion criteria were help-seeking migrants, including refugees, and being of age (18 years or above). Exclusion criteria were acute suicidality, acute psychoses, current involvement in psychological treatment, and acute substance dependence. Out of 115 help-seeking people, six met the exclusion criteria following use of appropriate questionnaires (MINI suicidal sub-scale, institutional self-constructed screening sheet) and were referred to appropriate resources, and another six declined to participate in the study for different reasons and made use of the regular counseling service (