Psychosocial Support

Psychosocial Support in Cyprus

Introduction
The Psychosocial Framework of 2005-2007 of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies defines Psychosocial Support as “a process of facilitating resilience within individuals, families and communities.” [International Federation Reference Centre (2011)]. Psychosocial support, enables people to recover after a crisis has disrupted their lives. It is based on the belief that, if people are empowered to care for themselves and each other, their individual and communal self-confidence and resources, will improve. Psychosocial support is both preventive and curative. It is preventive when it decreases the risk of developing mental health problems. It is curative when it helps individuals and communities to overcome and deal with psychosocial problems that may have arisen from the shock and affects of a crisis.

Α. The need for Psychosocial support in Cyprus:
The effects of the Global Financial Crisis and subsequent Recession of the Cyprus economy have spread to all sectors - Governmental, Non-Governmental and Private, condemning the disillusioned general public to a vicious cycle of stress and helplessness. Often enough, basic needs are threatened and/or are unmet, while Unemployment, Poverty and Homelessness have become an everyday reality for a growing number of affected citizens. We at the Cyprus Red Cross Society, have observed how economic woes translated to higher stress levels have given rise to a host of social ills - mental illnesses, a rise in domestic violence, unemployment, the breakdown of family bonds, children suffering neglect and outbreaks of antisocial and criminal behavior. A recent rough estimate shows that there are over 7,000 people currently seeking support from the Cyprus Red Cross Society. Our Psychosocial Support Program, since its formal launch, has managed to develop and is currently implementing programs on a pilot basis, based on identified gaps through the needs assessment process.

It is envisioned that through collaborative formulations and with the help of the community, will be able to support vulnerable groups and communities on a Cyprus-wide level. We advocate for the development of Community-based projects aimed at self-sufficiency and autonomy.

B. In brief, our main objectives are:

To identify specific needs for psychosocial support within the Cyprus Red Cross Society existing areas of action, by trained volunteers
To contact interested stakeholders and form sustainable collaborations through the exchange of services and interests - such as, internship programs
To recruit and train volunteers: basic training in Psychosocial Support and to further enhance and develop that training into other areas of needs
To train community members in Psychosocial Support and encourage active community participation in the planning and implementation process of project development.
To carry out assessments (the identification of vulnerabilities and capacities) by trained psychosocial support volunteers to measure and report the needs of vulnerable groups in the general population.
To develop, plan and implement ongoing projects and community based psychosocial interventions.
To expand the implementation of parallel projects, on a Cyprus-wide level.

C. Implementation:
We envision that the Psychosocial Support Program in Cyprus, will be integrated and have the capacity, to support existing and developing programs of the Cyprus Red Cross Society Departments, such as: the Migration Department, Emergency Response Department, Disaster Management, Social Welfare Program, Youth Section, etc.
At the same time, Psychosocial Support must be able to act as a “Stand Alone Program”, whereby, it will be able to network with other agencies, co-ordinate training workshops and skill building collaborations for volunteers, who will be able to respond efficiently in the event of a crisis. By enabling the Psychosocial Support Program in Cyprus to “stand alone”, the service could be integrated directly and, therefore, reach a larger percent of the population in need.

TRAININGS

2016

COMMUNITY-BASED PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT TRAINING 9-11 SEPTEMBER 2016

Registration form in English

Registration form in Greek

COMMUNITY-BASED PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT TRAINING 23-26 FEBRUARY 2016

Registration form in English

Registration form in Greek

**********************************************************************

2015

COMMUNITY-BASED PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT TRAINING 5-8 NOVEMBER 2015

Registration form in English