Psychological Rehabilitation
Since 2008, the TFV has been providing psychological rehabilitation to victims. The programmes aim to improve the psychological well-being of victims whereby they may develop coping strategies to prepare for the stresses of post-conflict life, have the ability to work productively and fruitfully, and become contributing members of their communities.
The TFV’s psychological rehabilitation interventions include the provision of multi-level services: support to victims and communities that seek to enhance victims’ well-being by improving the overall recovery environment; focused individual psychological support oriented towards victims, their families and household members through the provision of individual and group counselling by professional qualified therapists. Clinical services are provided either by a clinical psychologist or through referrals to specialised mental health providers for victims who require additional specialised support.
Where necessary, the TFV builds the capacity of local mental health providers through partnerships with local organizations. The TFV provides high quality trauma rehabilitative care through intensive small group and/or individual psychotherapy to new clients showing symptoms of posttraumatic stress, anxiety, depression, and/or other behavioural dysfunctions due to their experiences during the conflict.
Assessments after six months of therapy show that the frequency of mental health symptoms decreases. These decreases in the mean level of symptoms were all statistically significant and of a large magnitude, demonstrating a clinically meaningful reduction in mental health symptoms.
TFV implementing partners conduct community sensitization activities in order to identify affected communities in need of mental health services, awareness raising meetings of the effects of torture and trauma on the individual survivor and community as whole and indicate where victims can receive help.
The Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) has proven to be one of the effective forms of therapy TFV partners use to improve social functioning among conflict affected communities. It has tremendously transformed the lives of the beneficiaries who have integrated strategies such as relaxation exercises and experience sharing in their daily routine.
See also IMPACT [LINK]