In the field of mental health, Handicap International has built up a wealth of experience since the 1990s, in emergency and post-emergency situations and development.
© F. Bourcier - Handicap International |
Handicap International supports a range of people suffering from psychological problems, including victims of war and conflict, refugees, child soldiers, and children with autism or learning difficulties. Our teams always work in close collaboration with local health workers to ensure that each individual receives appropriate treatment.
We work to prevent and treat incapacitating disorders related to war and genocide, such as depression, anxiety, and psychosis, as well as psychological distress associated with socio-political problems such as poverty, exclusion, insecurity related to exile, and forced migration.
What is psychosocial support?
Psychosocial support aims at addressing traumatic stress and its consequences within the individual and the community, among people who have experienced deeply traumatic events such as war, violence, or natural disasters. There is a strong link between an individual’s psychological experience of such an event and collective social factors within their community, both of which must be addressed in the process of recovery.
Psychological factors
Following the experience of traumatic events, a person’s mind may become so overwhelmed that it is unable to cope. Psychological trauma is often characterised by the recurrence of events in the mind, leaving individuals incapable of assimilating their thoughts. Such deep trauma can break the links that the mind would normally put in place to understand and cope with specific situations.
Social factors
The shared experience of traumatic events deeply affects the nature of social links and interpersonal relationships within a community. These social links are the mechanisms we build around ourselves primarily to facilitate our existence and survival, without which a person can become extremely vulnerable. Economic or political aspects can re-enforce the collective effects of a traumatic event.
Approaches to psychosocial support
Psychosocial support is less about counselling, advice or the right or wrong ways to behave but is instead about empowering individuals by helping them to understand their own internal processes so they can adequately take control of their own situational responses and decision-making processes.
