On becoming more stress resistant in insecure environments
In a context which has become increasingly professionalized, yet more and more dangerous, humanitarian workers can no longer rely on rough and ready skills nor on heroic myths. There is an increasing need for training at a professional level in all areas of operation, including psychosocial support in situations of high levels of stress and violence.
Prolonged exposure to major stress factors, and possibly the experience of traumatic incidents, cause moral difficulties for the humanitarian worker which sometimes could be better dealt with, either in the field or within the organisation itself. Initially, this is the responsibility of the humanitarian agencies’ HR and/or medical Department, as much as that of the individual working in the field.
A bit of history
Fifteen years ago, NGOs had just started to understand that they had a moral responsibility to care for their staff’s protection when faced with security incidents. However, the psychological outcome of critical events was thought of as a “mental health” issue, when relief workers displayed “clinical” symptoms of distress, which prevented them from carrying on their work in an effective way. At best, they were sent out to have a medical evaluation and get treatment – but most of the time their pain was ignored.
The more recent surveys on humanitarian staff wellbeing, however, have shown that aid workers have most of the time out of the ordinary resilience when confronted with high levels of stress in insecure environments, but that they develop this level of resilience only under certain conditions:
- They have support and care from their organisation
- Ongoing training in their professional domain
- A good understanding and rapport with the beneficiaries
Within the framework of its training programs, the CHP provides space and practical means for reflecting on major issues of field staff welfare, in particular how to bridge effective security and stress management policies. It includes tools to address traumatic reactions after critical incidents, when field managers have no particular training in Mental Health or psychosocial areas.
Staff Welfare courses
- Stress management in insecure environments, more…
- Recruiting resilient aid workers, more…
- Managing and supporting aid workers after a critical incident, more…
- Addressing conflict in the humanitarian workplace, more…
- Practicing psychological debriefing in a humanitarian emergency context, more…
- Managing “Compassion Fatigue”: the cost of empathy, more…
