PSYCHOSOCIAL
SUPPORT PAVES THE WAY FOR A NEW LIFE
Joseph O. Prewitt Diaz[1]
PhD
Psychosocial
support is a cross cutting issue in the SPHERE Project 2011. The main role of
psychosocial support is to assure that the emotional needs of affected-persons
are addressed as they recover from major disaster or conflicts. Community based
psychosocial support is a tool that provides support and equal assess to
services to the oppressed and the oppressors. It is participatory in nature and
providers a mechanism where all segments of the community are able to identify
the risk and resilience factors in their geographic, ecological, cultural,
economical, spiritual, social and psychological place. The activities provides
a space for all members of a community to identify their losses, what they need
to rebuild, their social capital and what the affected-communities need from
the outsiders and other stakeholders.
The
approach has two predominant segments: a clinical and a psychosocial segment.
The clinical approach begins with psychological first aid, and then the small
groups of disaster-affected people that need further clinical evaluation are
referred for counseling. In a small number of cases, medical personnel that may
use medication to alleviate the traumatic stress, anxiety and depression
raising from the difficulty of coping with the disasters and the feelings of
hopelessness and helplessness experienced by some.
The
psychosocial support segment provides for participatory community assessment.
Most of this work is qualitative and relies on community mapping and narratives
using pictures as stimuli for community members to express their needs.
Volunteers are the backbone of this segment. They will develop safe space for
children to play, and informal schooling for adolescents, women, and the
elderly to develop skills to rebuild their “place”. Slowly, slowly, the
disaster-affected people regain their desire to move ahead and enhance their
resilience. The narratives with small groups every six-months give a glimpse of
the movement made by the affected-communities from their own perspectives, and
needs to continue to change and to be modified.
Psychosocial
support is synonymous of constant activities, increased communication,
ownership for the process and product, voluntarism and re-establishment of
place. Psychosocial support paves
the path to a bright new world!
[1]
Dr. Prewitt Diaz is President and CEO of the Center on Psychosocial Support in Disasters. AlexandriaVA. He is the recipient of 2008 APA
International Humanitarian Award.
