Practice Oriented Course
Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Post Conflict Areas
Overall course format
The program includes 4 elements:
General introduction
(45 hrs plus 20 hrs literature study)
The course will start with an intensive 45 hours seminar in which the following themes will be addressed:
- Day 1 (morning):
How to position mental health & psychosocial support services within the general context of community development & social reconstruction after conflicts and disasters. Introduction to the IASC guidelines.
- Day 1 (afternoon):
Community involvement in psychosocial interventions: how to restore the social fabric in war-affected communities and how to promote the agency of the community as a whole and its individual members.
IASC guidelines as a planning tool.
- Day 1 (evening):
Lessons learned today.
- Day 2 (morning):
Needs assessment: how to develop tools to explore community and individual mental health and psychosocial needs. IASC guidelines. Use of qualitative and quantitative methods.
- Day 2 (afternoon):
PTSD, local idioms of distress and psychosocial support. Idioms of distress, post conflict reactions. Differences and similarities between locally grown and learned expressions. DSM categories and its global (ab)use.
(Ir)relevance of PTSD. How to offer psychosocial support.
- Day 2 (evening):
Lessons learned today (sociotherapy in communities).
- Day 3 (morning):
Vulnerable groups; specific requirements, opportunities and limitations of their support.
- Day 3 (afternoon):
Women and violence.
- Day 3 (evening):
Lessons learned today (veterans and child soldiers).
- Day 4 (morning):
Involving existing structures of care: the role of the health care system and other local systems in the provision of mental health and psychosocial support. How to make training and interventions sustainable?
- Day 4 (afternoon):
Research and MHPSS: concepts, a critique; topics of this course 'out of the box'.
- Day 4 (evening):
Alter ego.
- Day 5 (morning):
Learning from practice: the process. How to develop cultural sensitive psychosocial training programmes using contextual community knowledge?
- Day 5 (afternoon):
Basic principles of training: tailor made client centred trainings, how to apply these in various contexts.
Certification of this part depends on active participation in the course.
Workshops
(27 hrs plus 10 hrs literature study)
The participants can choose between two workshops of each 3 days:
- Workshop 1:
Designing mental health and psychosocial interventions. This includes preparing a project, developing monitoring and evaluation tools.
- Workshop 2:
Enhancing training skills.
Certification of this part depends on performance during the workshop.
Field work
(optional; approximate 7 days – 50 hrs)
We will offer an optional field visit to a local NGO specialized in mental health and psychosocial support in an Asian or an African setting.
The aim of this field visit is to familiarize the participant with how MHPSS interventions and methods are tailored to specific local contexts.
The field visit will be done in small groups (4-10 persons) and will provide the participants a unique opportunity to work closely with local MHPSS workers and see the reality and challenges on the ground.
During the fieldwork period the participant will be offered a programme that consists of training in a local training centre by experienced local staff and visits to project sites during which the participant will cooperate with local project staff and will do brief assignments on previously discussed elements such as project planning and development, training, supervision, and evaluation.
We are currently exploring the following two options for field visits. At this moment we cannot be sure that these options will be realized. The costs for travel, accommodation, visa etc are not included.
- TPO Uganda
TPO Uganda is a leading NGO in psychosocial support in Uganda. It is an independent local NGO since 2000. The organization aims to improve the psychosocial and mental wellbeing of vulnerable individuals, their households and surrounding communities. TPO Uganda has projects in thematic areas such as care for HIV/AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children, child protection & gender based violence, mental health care, conflict resolution and peace building. The organization has a well equipped training centre in Arua, in the northwest of Uganda. For more information see: http://www.tpoug.org
- TPO Nepal
TPO Nepal is a young local NGO, founded in 2005 and affiliated with HealthNet TPO in Amsterdam. The organization has become one of Nepal’s leading psychosocial organizations. Its primary aim is to promote psychosocial well-being and mental health of children and families in conflict-affected and other vulnerable communities, through development of sustainable, culturally-appropriate, community-based psychosocial support systems. Priority areas are psychosocial response in emergency situations, psychosocial support for refugees, and children associated with armed forces and armed groups. For more information see: http://www.tponepal.org
Certification of this part is dependent on:
- the evaluation of participants performance by the field supervisor
- the participants report on the field work
Reflection meeting for the participants in the Netherlands
(8 hrs plus 20 hrs preparation)
The participants are offered an additional meeting in which they will analyse and discuss their fieldwork and will present a report of their fieldwork.
Certification of this part is dependent on active participation
Certification
A certificate will be issued for those parts that have been successfully completed.