3-week mental health/psychosocial courses in the field in Northern Uganda. Organized by Global Psycho-Social Initiatives (GPSI: Nancy Baron) in collaboration with International Trauma Studies Program (ITSP) New York and Transcultural Psychosocial Organization of Uganda.
Course 1. Practical Implementation of Family and Community Directed Psychosocial and Mental Health Initiatives in Developing Countries Affected by War, Violence and Natural Disasters. This course combines classroom and field study on how family and community based initiatives can be implemented to assist with psychosocial and mental health problems in developing countries affected by conflict and natural disasters. Course is for participants either presently working in related settings or for those with a keen interest to begin. Participants should have prior training and/or experience in psychosocial work and/or education in psychology, social work, peace building or related fields.
Course 2. Training of trainers course. This course combines classroom and field study to prepare trainers how to train teams to provide psycho-social and mental health assistance for populations in developing countries affected by conflicts and disasters. It is designed for people with prior training and experience in related psychosocial work.
Contact: drnancy [at] swiftkenya.com
Frequency: each course is organized approx 1 time per year
Website:
1-week course on ‘Mental health in complex emergencies’ in Geneva, New York, London or Uganda. Organized by International Medical Corps (Lynne Jones) in collaboration with Healthnet-TPO and the Centre for International Health and Cooperation at Fordham University Contents: The course teaches on key public health and clinical actions/considerations related to mental health in emergencies. The course in particular focuses on potential work by health agencies. The next course (2008) will be held at the LSHTM, London.
Contacts: ljones [at] imcworldwide.org or afletcher [at] imcworldwide.org
Frequency: approx 1 time per year
Website:
Oxford weekend course ‘Psychosocial Programmes in Emergencies: What are we learning from practice?’ Organized by Maryanne Loughry & Mike Wessells
Contents: The course provides a critical perspective on mental health and psychosocial support in emergency settings with a focus on the value of multi-sectoral approaches. It invites practitioners and theorists to struggle with complex intercultural issues associated with psychosocial programming. The course examines how to blend Western and local approaches through processes of consultation, dialogue, and collaborative problem-solving with local people.
Contact: maryanne.loughry [at] qeh.ox.ac.uk
Frequency: approx 1 time per year
1-week Meeting the Psychosocial Needs of Refugees course in Cairo Organized by: Summer School at American University of Cairo / Forced Migration and Refugee Studies Program in Egypt.
Contents: In this course, participants will increase their understanding of the psychosocial and mental health issues of refugees and learn how to implement effective interventions. Topics include: International research about the psychosocial and mental health consequences of war and violence; Implications for working with various cultures and contexts; Skills for assessment of need; Culturally sensitive interviewing skills; Methods for working with translators; Introduction to international guidelines and best practices and for individual, family, group and community interventions; Overview of methods for monitoring and evaluating the impact of intervention; and Specific mechanisms workers and organizations can use to minimize staff burnout and maximize organizational effectiveness.
Contact: drnancy [at] swiftkenya.com
Frequency: approx 1 time per year