Dear Friend,
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) works to provide emergency medical care and save lives in the wake of disasters. Far too often, we see patients confronting incredibly challenging and distressing situations. While our patients heal from their physical injuries, their psychological wounds still remain.
MSF is committed to providing psychological first aid to people who are experiencing trauma in the aftermath of a crisis.
|
MSF provides psychological first aid to people experiencing acute distress after a traumatic event, helping them cope with shock, panic attacks, and other issues related to mental health. Our aim is to stabilize people, secure a safe space for them, and ensure access to food, shelter, water, and medications.
After ensuring patients are physically safe, MSF teams focus on the trauma people have experienced, often addressing it with a tool called cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT helps our patients reduce distress by changing their thinking patterns, recognizing the physical symptoms of mental trauma, and managing their thoughts more effectively.
|
People who have experienced disasters like war, conflict, forced displacement, and natural disasters are often in need of psychological first aid. In different kinds of emergencies, mental health needs are as important and urgent as medical needs.
|
MSF provides psychological first aid to communities experiencing high levels of distress. Our community mental health workers and other trained community members provide this support to people after they have experienced trauma.
While psychological first aid specifically refers to treatment in the initial aftermath of a disaster, MSF also conducts group and individual mental health sessions in order to help people mentally recover long-term from what they’ve experienced.
Learn more about the work MSF does to provide mental health care to people who need it, including psychological first aid.
|
