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Psychological First Aid

IFRC

• Attitudes

• Principles

• Approaches

• Tools

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Training kit

Module 5: Psychological first aid

Important elements of PFA

• Active listening

• Stay close

• Accept feelings

• Provide general care and

practical help

Focused on skill building in

supportive communication

Attitudes

• Being trained in PFA

provides you with generic

skills that can be used for

a variety of reasons,

including in you personal

life

• People that you assist as

staff and volunteers

• Family

• Friends

• Colleagues

• Neighbours

• And You – helps raise

your awareness and

facilitates actions

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A majority of people wants to help

• They are afraid to do

something wrong

• To make things worse

• To be in the way

• To be confronted

• Through trainings and

advocacy they are

empowered to

• Act

• Support

• Understand

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Flexibility

Different national societies

wants to develop their PFA

tools based on their own

experiences

Good examples are

• Norwegian, British,

Sweedish and Danish,

Georgian, Myanmar

And many others…..

• They can use our

approches, and adopt to

fit local context

• We should advice not

decide

• What we can do is

consult with and ask to

follow the 5 principles

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Empirically supported intervention principles

Intervention and prevention efforts at the early to mid–term

stages after a disaster include promoting:

1) Sense of safety

2) Calm

3) Sense of self– and community efficacy

4) Connectedness

5) Hope

Hobfoll et al. (2007) and TENTS guidelines (2010)

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Restoring family links

• Link up to ICRC

• Help get in touch with loved ones

• Information

• Waiting time

• Support when when bad news have been conveyed

• Together with ICRC we are discovering how we can work together,

to improve and strenthen the link between psychological first aid and

RFL

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PFA a core function of PSP of IFRC and

of the movement the RC Movement

• In a diverse range of

programs

• In disasters, conflict

situations, recovery

programmes, social

services

• Diverse or stand alone

• Principle of humanity:

Psychosocial support is the

heartbeat of humanity!

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Other principles

• Humanity

• The humanitarian imperative

• Being the face of humanity

• Code of conduct

• According to local context

• Participation

• Involvement of affected people in developemnt of services

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Statements about PFA

“PFA is a term that originated toward the end of World War II. It has

been used with a variety of meanings in the literature, and this range of

interpretations has reduced the term’s usefulness.”

Jacobs, G.A. & Meyers, D. (2005)

“There is an absence of direct evidence for the effectiveness of PFA

but indirect evidence supports the delivery of services based on the

principles of PFA in the first few weeks after a traumatic event.”

Bisson, J.I. & Lewis, C. (2009)

“Psychological first aid has been recommended by many international

and national expert groups, IASC (2007) and the Sphere Project

(2011).”

WHO (2011)

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What is Psychological First Aid (PFA)?

• PFA is an evidence-informed modular approach

• PFA aims to help children, adolescents, adults, and

families in the immediate aftermath of disaster and

terrorism and other critical events

• PFA is designed to reduce the initial distress caused

by traumatic events

• PFA aims to foster short- and long-term

adaptive functioning and coping.

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Sphere (2011) and IASC (2007)

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• People will experience a broad range of reactions

Varied reactions

• Distress may interfere with adaptive coping

Reactions cause distress

• Support provided by compassionate and caring disaster responders

Recovery can be supported

• To reduce the initial distress and to support adaptive functioning and coping

Aims of PFA

The Psychological First Aid (PFA) approach

Sphere (2011) and IASC (2007)

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Non-intrusive, practical care and support

Assessing needs and concerns

Helping people to address basic needs

Listening to people, but not pressuring them to talk

Comforting people and helping them to feel calm

Helping people connect to information, services and social supports

Protecting people from further harm

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something that only professionals can do

professional counseling

a clinical intervention

“psychological debriefing”

a detailed discussion of events or putting events in order

asking someone to analyze what happened

pressuring people to tell their feelings and reactions

Sphere (2011) and IASC (2007)

The personal touch

• Difference between First Aid and Psychological First Aid

• Although it is a stepwise approach and based on basic

principles, it will not be provided in the same way by

different volunteers, in different contexts and in different

situations

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Training kit

Module 5: Psychological first aid

Important elements of PFA

• Active listening

• Stay close

• Accept feelings

• Provide general care and

practical help

Focused on skill building in

supportive communication

Local interpretations based on the five

principles of resilience adapted to local

context

• Translated vesion of the manual in to:

• Russian, Mongolian, French, Spanish, Chinese,

Japanese, Georgian, Arabic, Sinhalese and probably

many more

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PFA as part of immediate disaster

response

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Core Actions

Preparing to Deliver PFA

1. Contact and Engagement

2. Safety and Comfort

3. Stabilization

4. Information Gathering

5. Needs and Current Concerns

6. Practical Assistance

7. Connection with Social Supports

8. Information on Coping

9. Linkage with Collaborative Services

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Action principles of PFA

Look

• safety

• obvious urgent basic needs

• serious distress reactions

Listen

• People who may need support

• people’s needs and concerns

• Listen and feel calm

Link

• Basic needs and access services

• Help people cope with problems.

• Give information.

• Connect people with loved ones and social support.

So which guideline/manual should you use?

Training kit Module 5: Psychological first aid (IFRC)

Training in supportive communication.

Sequential particpatory exercises.

Psychological First Aid Field Operations Guide (NCTSN)

For emergency rescue workers, Western settings.

Example dialogues, detailed instructions and questionnaires.

Psychological First Aid – Guide for Field Workers (WHO)

Developed for LAMIC, emphasis on cultural adaption.

Case work with action principles.

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How do you train PFA?

How do you train PFA in your NS?

• How do you make it applicable and practical in field settings?

• How do you address developmental levels across the lifespan?

• Do you aim to make it culturally informed?

• How do you evaluate trainees?

• How do you maintain the teams?

• How do you maintain their skills?

• Do you provide supervision?

PSYCHOLOGICAL FIRST AID