The last several decades of ongoing conflict and oppression in Myanmar (as it is now officially known) has had an extensive psychological and emotional impact on its people. Unfortunately, there has been a distinct lack of psychosocial programming provided through culturally appropriate methods in Myanmar. This study investigated an eight session psychotherapy group called Sharing Circles. Trained local staff implemented a group intervention in Yangon, Myanmar with 57 Burmese participants from Yangon identified as belonging to one of three vulnerable groups.

The world currently faces its largest global displacement crisis since World War II, with approximately 60 million people currently displaced due to conflict, persecution and untenable conditions in their home country. Whilst foreseeable, E urope is still reeling in shock from the sheer numbers of refugees and migrants – approximately one million – who have crossed its borders in 2015.

Ever increasing humanitarian crises involve prolonged population displacement, a known trigger for chronic stress, which in turn highlights the need for chronic stress to be addressed more explicitly within humanitarian aid work. This calls for better tools to both assess chronic stress in these situations of extended displacement, as well as methods to evaluate the impact of psychosocial interventions in such settings. Noting these challenges, this paper proposes the use of hair cortisol concentration sampling to measure long-term suffering and stress.

This field report summarises some of the problems, challenges and psychosocial issues facing Sierra Leone Red Cross National Society staff and volunteers, related to the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak, as well as local responses at a time when the rest of the world was just becoming aware of the disease as a real threat. The author provides a brief outline of what was, and is, needed and what she managed to plan and implement to help support the overall Ebola operation in Sierra Leone, as well as improve staff and volunteer support and the training of trainers.