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Dr. Inka Weissbecker, PhD, MPH Global Mental Health and Psychosocial Advisor International Medical Corps

 International Medical Corps Emergency Response Team arrived March 13 th  Mental health and psychosocial support identified as urgent need  Response coordinated with national authorities and local coordination bodies 3

IMC Response:  Distributed IASC guidelines in Japanese (over 12 organizations, more than 482 people).  Funded translation requested by Japanese National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) of IASC MHPSS guidelines for the health sector  Organized workshops on IASC guidelines for Japanese mental health workers together with NIMH Challenge: Best practices in MHPSS often not known or overlooked in emergencies

Recommended for helpers (e.g. relief workers) in conflict and crisis situations A non-intrusive way of providing psychosocial support which teaches:  Doing no harm  Normal reactions to stress and loss  Listening in a supportive way  Coping strategies  Ways of linking people to needed services including specialized referral for those experiencing severe distress  Staff self-care

IMC Response:  Provided Training of Trainers for our local partner organization TELL in PFA and adapted PFA training to local context  Trained 85 phone counselors from TELL and other organizations in PFA  Disseminated PFA handouts to five major relief organizations working in Japan (reaching over 4,000 people) Challenge: Disaster responders often lack knowledge of how to respond to distress of affected population

 Trainee scores on several dimensions of perceived competency in assisting those experiencing distress significantly increased post training  Trainees reported higher awareness of community empowerment, doing no harm, protection issues and self-care after training  International Medical Corps continues supporting local partners in scale up of PFA in Japan