Training trainers for counsellors and psychosocial workers in areas of armed conflict: some basic principles

Training counsellors, or psychosocial workers, in areas of armed conflict requires an explicit vision of the relationship between the educational methods used by the trainer, and the main messages of the training. This article describes the educational methods, subject matter and main messages of contact-oriented training of trainers for counsellors or psychosocial workers. The approach described herein is an interactive process in which the participants and the trainer become engaged in through personal contact.

The 'TOT’: a global approach for the training of trainers for psychosocial and mental health interventions in countries affected by war, violence and natural disasters

In this article practical methods are describedfor the training of trainers who have the task to train teams implementing psychosocial and mental health interventions after wars, violence and natural disasters.

Keywords: TOT, training of trainers, training, supervision, psychosocial, mental health, interventions, global, violence, natural disasters

The training of trainers (TOT1) in context

Mental health of Afghan refugees in Pakistan: a qualitative rapid reconnaissance field study

For the past 25years, Afghans have accountedfor the greatest number ofdisplaced persons in the world. A large proportion of this population has sought refuge in neighbouring Pakistan. Many Afghan refugees have experienced unimaginable suffering due to war and its consequences. Mental health is an essential aspect of the care of refugees, yet the mental health and well-being of Afghan refugees has not been well studied. This qualitative field survey endeavours to gain some understanding of collective factors influencing mental health in a refugee camp in Karachi, Pakistan.

Responding to the psychosocial impact of the Tsunami in a war zone: experiences from northern Sri Lanka

Three days after theTsunami hit the war-torn Jaffna district in northern Sri Lanka, a mental health task force was formed. The approach of this task force, comprising a cooperative initiative between 18 humanitarian agencies, is described in this field report.

Keywords: tsunami, psychological first aid

Before the Tsunami

Bread and roses: supporting refugee women in a multicultural group

This field report describes the support and reconciliation work in a weekly multicultural and multilingual therapeutic group of African refugee women in a shelter in Johannesburg, South Africa. The problems of the participants, the therapeutic approach (which includes: team building exercises, guided imaginations, story telling, drawing, modelling and discussion) as well as the impact on the participants, are all discussed.

Keywords: reconciliation, support

 

Violence with a purpose: exploring the functions and meaning of violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo

In situations of protracted armed conflict such as in sub-Saharan Africa, there exists a strong tendency to describe rebel violence as a senseless war of ‘all-against-allThis ‘Hobbesian’ violence (a theory that people have the fundamental right to pursue selfish aims but will relinquish those rights in the interest of the common good) is often illustrated by the sight of drugged and gun-toting youths engaged in the harassment of innocent civilians. Their sole motivation appears to lay in the benefit of organized plunder.

Integrating psychosocial issues in humanitarian and development assistance: a response to Williamson and Robinson

We greatly welcome Williamson and Robinson’s paper (Intervention, this issue) on two counts. Given the specific goal of the Psychosocial Working Group (PWG) to promote debate leading towards practice development, we are delighted that one of our papers on conceptual and field implementation issues (Strang & Ager, 2003) is credited as a prompt to this thoughtful article. More importantly, we support the core contentions of their paper even if not, as discussed below, all details of their prescription for action.

Integrated programme planning and psychosocial concepts in humanitarian response: a response to Williamson and Robinson

The article by John Williamson and Malia Robinson (Intervention, this issue) represents a way of humanitarian thinking and acting that will hopefully increase its influence to dominate humanitarian response across all sectors. The authors argue for an integrated, cross-sector response to biological, material, mental, emotional, social, cultural and spiritual well-being. We agree.

Psychosocial interventions, or integrated programming for well-being?

Over the past 25years, humanitarian programming has increasingly included attention to the psychological and social impacts ofconflict. Over this time, a wide variety of approaches have been developed to address these ‘psychosocial’ issues. The authors argue that labelling these approaches, as a distinct and separate sector of activity is not helpful, either conceptually or programmatically.

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