THE 6 CORE PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOSOCIAL

SUPPORT
Whenever we provide psychosocial support, we must always
ensure these 6 cores principles are considered:

• 1. Human rights and equity - to maximize fairness in the

availability and accessibility of psychosocial support and related
services across gender, age, language, ethnic groups and based
on identified/assessed needs.

• 2. Participation of the person(s) affected and receiving care

and treatment so that their rights to receive or refuse certain
forms of assistance are respected.

• 3. Do No Harm by ensuring that people do not go beyond their

capacity as a psychosocial support person and any professional
services are culturally and age-appropriate and based on recent
evidence.
 • 4. Building on available resources and capacities, by using
as many local supports as possible, encouraging people to
help themselves and finding ways to strengthen
communities to provide care for others.

• 5. Integrated support systems that ensure any mental

health and/or psychosocial support services are linked to
wider systems, such as the health, education and social
welfare systems. This helps ensure sustainability for long-
term support if required.

• 6. Multi-layered support refers to the need to ensure that

people receive ALL forms of assistance – ranging from
having access to basic needs and safety, being part of a
community and family, having access to local services for
further support as well as more technical and specialized
services if needed.

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines on Mental Health and

Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings (IASC, 2007)
COMMUNITY BASED PSYCHOSOCIAL
INTERVENTION
Community Assessment
• When conducting a community assessment for psychosocial
interventions, it's essential to focus on understanding the unique
social, psychological, and emotional aspects of the community
that may impact mental health and well-being.

• Community Needs and Concerns: Identify specific psychosocial

needs and concerns within the community, such as prevalence
rates of mental health disorders, substance abuse, domestic
violence, trauma, social isolation, or discrimination.
Understanding the community's most pressing issues helps
prioritize interventions.
• Risk and Protective Factors: Explore the individual, family,
and community-level risk and protective factors that
influence mental health outcomes. These may include
factors such as socioeconomic status, access to healthcare,
social support networks, cultural norms, resilience, coping
skills, and community structure.
• Mental Health Services and Resources: Assess the
availability, accessibility, and quality of mental health
services and resources within the community, including
mental health clinics, counseling services, support groups,
crisis hotlines, and peer support programs. Identify gaps or
barriers in service delivery that may hinder access to care.
• Stigma and Attitudes Towards Mental Health: Examine
community attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions about
mental health and mental illness. Assess levels of stigma,
discrimination, and cultural barriers that may prevent
individuals from seeking help or accessing appropriate care.
• Cultural Context and Beliefs: Understand the cultural
beliefs, values, and practices related to mental health and
illness in Nepal. Consider the influence of religion,
spirituality, traditional healing practices, and stigma
surrounding mental health issues.
• Language and Communication: Recognize the linguistic
diversity in Nepal and ensure that assessment tools,
materials, and interventions are accessible and culturally
appropriate for various linguistic groups, including those
who speak Nepali, as well as indigenous and minority
languages.
• Trauma and Post-Conflict Context: Recognize the impact of
Nepal's history of armed conflict, natural disasters, and
political instability on mental health and psychosocial well-
being. Assess the prevalence of trauma-related disorders
and the need for trauma-informed interventions.
• Traditional Healing Practices: Explore the role of traditional
healers, shamans, and indigenous healing practices in
addressing psychosocial issues in Nepalese communities.
Consider opportunities for integrating traditional healing
methods with evidence-based interventions.
• Community Resilience and Coping Strategies: Assess the
resilience factors and coping strategies that communities
employ to address psychosocial challenges, such as social
support networks, community cohesion, religious practices,
and cultural rituals.
• Cross-Cultural Competence: Ensure that intervention
providers possess cross-cultural competence and sensitivity
to effectively engage with diverse communities in Nepal.
Provide training and support for practitioners to
understand and respect local cultural norms and values.
Role of community counselor
• Prevention through community awareness,
workshops and interaction (both general and
specific community groups) by-
– Strengthening parental capacity
– Provide Psycho educational session
– Problem identification and its’ management
– Conduct Psychological First Aid (PFA)
– Conduct Group Intervention
– Providing guidelines for adults (dealing with Distress
children)
– Avoiding stigmatization and re-victimization
Awareness raising among community
groups
• Conducting psycho-education through
community interaction (both general and specific
community groups) on topics, such as:
– Impact of domestic violence and psychosocial issues
among Women and Children
– Coping and Resilience
– Depression and Suicide
– Crisis related psychosocial problem
– Child & Adolescents development and its
Developmental Challenges
– Existing support systems of community on
psychosocial care and support
Intervention

• Emotional Support
• Problem identification
• Group counseling
• Family counseling
• Individual Counseling
• Case management
• Referral to appropriate service providers
• Follow-up
Community counselling
• Community counselling is a major tool for overcoming
the barriers within a community.

• It differs from an education process and from

participatory action methods.

• Community counselling has emerged as powerful

EMOTIONAL content, and counselor are always
challenged to be sensitive and responsive to the many
kinds of emotion which can be generated.
 CAUTION
• Psychosocial trainers and community counselors
should realize that they are not and should not
consider themselves to be experts in the diagnosis
and treatment of mental disorders. The community
counselor’s role is first to identify those in need of
help and then to offer verbal support, information
and provide relevant or fact information when
requested. Sometimes physical assistance, such as
moving a victim’s belongings or helping to repair
damage to homes and property, is most helpful in
overcoming emotional distress.
 History of Psychosocial and Psychological
Counseling training in Nepal
• Training in psychosocial counseling began in CVICT in 1991 as a ToT.
• Later a 4-5 months paraprofessional course and 1 year post
graduate course in affiliation to Purvanchal University was initiated
by CVICT.
• Training module was prepared to adapt to the cultural, social and
political environment of Nepal.
• Sahara Paramarsha Kendra also started providing a short term
course on psychosocial counseling.
• CVICT, TPO-Nepal, Antarang , CMC Nepal and CPSSC (Counseling
Psychology and Social Studies College) are providing long term (4-6
months) training for paraprofessional psychosocial counselor
• Out of Kathmandu KOPILA Nepal Provide 4-6 month counselling
training in Pokhara.
• Trichandra and CPSSC college start 1 year post graduate counselling
Psychology course in affiliation to Tribhuvan University.
 Psychosocial counseling service in
Nepal
• The non-governmental community in Nepal is responding rapidly to
the psychosocial needs related to conflict and disaster.

• Currently, quite a few of the trained counselors are working in

center based rehabilitation centers, mainly in Kathmandu and some
in local NGOs of other districts as well.

• Some of the organizations working to address the psychosocial

needs and providing psychosocial counseling service currently are
CVICT, TPO-Nepal, CMC (Center for Mental health and Counseling),
CPSSC College, KOSHISH, Antaranga and KOPILA Nepal, Pokhara.

• Although many other organizations in Nepal conduct counseling,

some of these interventions cannot be categorized under the
term psychosocial counseling (Jordans& Sharma, 2004)