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About PsychosocialJump to: History | Staff | Advisory Board, 2004-2005 | Contact Us Introduction to PsychosocialPsychosocial is a website that focuses on the dissemination of practical information and research about psychosocial issues confronted by managers and staff of agencies involved in humanitarian aid, human rights, and development work in the field. The purpose of Psychosocial is to assist agencies and their staff in improving their capacity to cope with, and mitigate the effects of, the stresses, tensions, and occupational hazards particular to humanitarian work. Psychosocial is a project of the nonprofit organization Action Without Borders/Idealist.org. More on the history of the site's development and rationale is explained below. Psychosocial contains a range of information categorized by the three general stages of any humanitarian worker's involvement in a field mission: pre-deployment, the period in the field, and the post-mission re-entry process. Within these categories, there are sections geared toward both managers and field staff, and each set of resources is preceded by a useful introductory explanation of the terms and concepts. Beyond these resources, visitors can also join the Psychosocial community listserv, explore relevant research papers, and search for assignments and consultants. HistoryHumanitarian organizations send their staff overseas to the most challenging conflict areas, disaster zones, and impoverished communities. These individuals, as well as local staff, often find themselves in need of psychosocial support due to trauma or chronic stress. Many organizations, however, do not have the capacity to provide this kind of support to their people before, during, and after their deployment.  2004 Conference Program In 2002 Action Without Borders was approached with the idea of convening a group of people wrestling with these issues, and in March of 2004, after almost two years of planning with experts in the field, Action Without Borders organized a national conference under the title: "Tending the Helper's Fire: Mitigating Trauma and Stress in International Staff and Volunteers." Hosted by Notre Dame University's Kroc Institute, the conference was the first in the United States to bring together human resources professionals, researchers, program directors, and international humanitarian aid workers to examine how different organizations currently provide psychosocial support to their overseas staff, and how they can do so more effectively. Participants in the conference agreed that there is a great need for an online resource center devoted to the broad range of psychosocial support issues. This site, Psychosocial, connects humanitarian experts, aid workers, and academics, and provides them with the training materials, best practices, and research results needed to support their work. StaffPsychosocial is maintained by Eric Fichtl, Editor at Action Without Borders/Idealist.org. If you have any comments, suggestions, or questions about Psychosocial, please contact him. Psychosocial came out of the careful work of Lindsay Stark. Lindsay organized the "Tending the Helper's Fire: Mitigating Trauma and Stress in International Staff and Volunteers" conference at Notre Dame University's Kroc Institute in 2004, and then coordinated the creation of this website. Lindsay has since left Action Without Borders, but she continues to support the Psychosocial project. Psychosocial's development was also assisted by three dedicated interns: Amy Nuzzolese, Tonya Williams, and Susan Wong. We also gratefully acknowledge photographer Karl Grobl for allowing us to use his images throughout the site. You can see more of Karl's work at his website, www.karlgrobl.com. Psychosocial Advisory Board, 2004-2005The Psychosocial Advisory Board (2004-2005) provided expert opinion and guidance during the website's development. Please note: In some cases, the advisory board members' titles or affiliations may no longer be current.
Contact UsWe rely on the support of the humanitarian community to maintain and expand the resources on Psychosocial. If you or your organization has undertaken research or developed resources that you think would be of interest to Psychosocial users, please contact us. |