**Abstract**

It has become very clear throughout my psychotherapy work with unaccompanied and separated adolescents (UASA) in Ireland, that friendships often provide a critical source of protective psychosocial support within adolescences frequently interrupted by conflict, violence and perilous journeys. Although the increasing importance of friendships in adolescence and more specifically during times of adolescent stress, is well-documented, friendships are likely to be brought into even sharper focus during unaccompanied adolescent displacement, as they typically take on functions more traditionally associated with the absent family. This qualitative exploration of the protective effect of friendships for UASA uses reflexive thematic analysis to analyse composite clinical case material and composite eco-maps to capture the lived friendship experiences of UASA. The data clearly illustrates that UASA friendships provide a safe, accepting, protective space and enabling context in which they can gain psychological and practical peer support and approval.

**Keywords:** unaccompanied minors, adolescence, friendships, composite case material, reflexive thematic analysis, proxy family
