Psychological First Aid – A Practitioners’ Training

Psychological First Aid (PFA) is a cluster of principles and strategies with the goal of providing low-threshold, effective care to individuals, organizations, and communities after the event of a crisis or disaster. 

In this eight-hour on-site session, participants will receive an introduction into the basic underlying concepts of PFA.

As many civilian experts have received numerous theoretical introductions to PFA yet have had little opportunity to practice its application, this training's focus is on tailor-made, concrete scenarios in which participants get extensive possibilities to practice implementation in role plays and practical exercises. 

There will be:

• one group exercise
• one-on-one role-plays
• and one complex role-play,

providing the basis for reflecting debriefs and embedding former experiences into sound knowledge on functioning PFA strategies. Space for further self-reflection and constructive feedback will naturally be provided throughout the course.

By the end of this course participants will be able to:

• understand and be able to conceptualize basic principles and concepts of PFA
• know the potentials and limits of PFA and be able to assess its usefulness in diverse settings
• confidently apply concrete techniques and make an informed decision on which strategy to use
• self-reflect on their personal needs and challenges in the implementation of PFA

This course is designed for civilian experts with basic or no prior knowledge on Psychological First Aid who are interested in practicing its application in diverse scenarios.

• human stress responses and how they affect the choice of intervention
• the diversity of settings in which PFA can be applied
• potentials and limits of PFA
• the key principles (“Hobfoll criteria”) of PFA: Safety, Connectedness, Calm, Self and Collective Efficacy, and Hope – and their meaningful implementation as well as concrete techniques

ZIF trainings are practice-oriented and reflect the operational reality of peace operations and (post-)conflict areas through exercises, role plays and scenario-based courses. Moreover, our trainings focus on the main areas of competence outlined in the ZIF Concept “Civilian Expert”. Additionally, we base our courses on contemporary concepts of adult education and peer learning. We try to create a joint learning space in which participants and the training team can exchange freely and critically, and which provides room for self-reflection. Another important goal of our courses is to encourage a change of perspective. One way of achieving this is by mainstreaming the comprehensive approach (civilian, police, military), which is made possible through our cooperation within the German Training Partner Platform.

The training will be conducted in English and will take place in the premises of ZIF / SWP. It is limited to 16 participants and aimed at members of the ZIF expert pool and ZIF secondees. Please send your application including your CV and a brief motivation letter to training@zif-berlin.org.

Application deadline for the session on September 26: September 1, 23:59h
Application deadline for the session on December 9: November 11, 23:59h

Costs: 25 € for ZIF expert pool members | 40 € for externals
ZIF cannot provide any coverage of travel costs.

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