Unni Heltne and Elin Mæhle trained 23 participants in Lahore at the University of Punjab 22-24 April.

“In the training we took special care to add practical exercises and to emphasis the importance of sticking to the manual. This would be especially important when they are going to train others
without the same background as themselves, who would have to rely heavily on the manual,” says Hjeltne and Mæhle.

The participants came from several places in Pakistan and had backgrounds as psychologists and psychiatrists. There was also a psychiatrist, a psychologist and an MD from Kabul. Many of the psychologists worked at the University in Punjab in the departments of Clinical Psychology and Applied Psychology. Some of the psychologists from outside the University worked in the army, and some with homeless children.

CAW trainers were impressed

“We were very impressed by the knowledge and commitment of the participants and deeply touched and impressed by the warm and welcoming way we were received. The training was exceptionally well prepared and organized, thanks to Dr. Rukhsana and her staff.”
In a group discussion the last day the participants made impressive concrete and realistic plans for the continuation of the training! They also formed a group and appointed a contact person so that they could continue to share experiences and support one another.

The training in Pakistan started 22 April and ends 24 April.

At the end of the workshop, attendees are also able to train others to deliver groups.

He spent last Tuesday as an expert commentator on NRK, and he will also spend parts of today and Wednesday doing the same. Dr Dyregrov, who is also Director of Center for Crisis Psychology in Bergen, has also told international media that the center advises survivors and their families to shield themselves from parts of the court proceedings, which apart from Breivik’s testimony is broadcasted live.

Read more:

Reuters: Norway mass killer bent on turning trial into “circus”

Der Spiegel: Life after Utøya: The Battle against Memories

Wall Street Journal: Testimony of Accused, Spurs debate

Emily Holmes is professor at the University of Oxford’s Department of Psychiatry, and Joop de Jong is professor at the University of Amsterdam and Boston University, and a visiting professor at Rhodes University, South Africa.

Read more: Board of Overseers.

They have been made based on an adult measure of Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD).

Please go to our measures page to download the questionnaires.

Across three days, 192 secondary students from one of the worst conflict affected areas of the city were randomised to either follow the structured, guided writing exercises in the Writing for Recovery manual or to write generally about a neutral topic. Although adolescents receiving both conditions showed improvements in terms of reduced posttraumatic stress and anxiety levels, these levels were reduced significantly further at the three-month follow-up for students in the Writing for Recovery condition.

The project was led by Tori Snell, a clinical psychology trainee from the University of Leicester who
worked with Numan Ali (FRCPsych), consultant psychiatrist and head of department at the Baghdad
Teaching Hospital and a team of trained volunteers. Scientific evaluation of the intervention was
supported by Professor Michael Wang, clinical course director in the School of Psychology at the
University of Leicester and Dr Marilyn Christie from the same department.

A second study, led by Dr Ali working with Tori Snell, has evaluated the intervention using cortisol
salivary sampling as an objective measure over a 12-month follow-up period with a similar
population of adolescents in Baghdad. The data for this study are currently being analysed. A paper
reporting results from the pilot study will be published in the May 2012 edition of the Journal of
Arab Psychiatry.

Our past chair, William Yule invites supporters to a fundraising meeting at Institute of Psychiatry:

“You will know from our website that in addition to undertaking a great deal of training these last few years, the Foundation has also funded a number of research projects. Some of these are now completed and have resulted in good, peer-reviewed publications. As hoped for, pilot studies and RCTs of the use of our Training Recovery Techniques and Writing for Recovery manuals now have good evidence of their efficacy.

Until now the Foundation’s income has come mainly from fundraising concerts in Norway and the generosity of the Norwegian Department of Foreign Affairs. However, the recession is hitting charities and we need to increase our efforts to raise corporate and individual funds.

This year, we have been negotiating with the UK Revenue to have the Norwegian based charity registered to enable tax claims on donations from UK tax payers. Our Lawyers advised us that this was preferable to registering a linked UK based charity. We are now waiting the decision of HMRC. So this is the time to get organised regarding fundraising. Once recognised by HMRC we are advised that it will be easier to attract corporate donations.

We would like to hear from you regarding any suggestions for fundraising, and whether you can attend a meeting at 4 pm on Tuesday 10 January 2012 at the Institute of Psychiatry, 1 floor Henry Wellcome Building. Even if you are unable to attend, please contact us with your suggestions: william.yule@kcl.ac.uk

Most charities depend on a large group of supporters. How do we encourage more giving. How do we make maximum use of Just giving, Virgin Charity giving and so on? Sponsored walks and swims seem to attract donations. Charity auctions, concerts and so on can be good for raising our profile as well as funds.”

Five articles are currently in submission. A paper on the Iran-based Efficacy of Writing for Recovery project is currently in press in Omega, and a paper on our Gaza project has been accepted in the Journal of Traumatic Stress.

We have added a list of published studies the Children and War Foundation has supported on our website: Publications using the CAW Manuals and Measures.

Board member William Yule who supervised the training in Tokyo, says, “both child psychiatrists and now the clinical psychologists have held training for approximately 40 people in each group. The training threw up a number of issues and now both groups are undertaking pilot studies before going further.”

Yule also gave a paper on psychosocial response to disasters at a symposium at the University of Tokyo, on World Mental Health Day, 10 October.

He also participated at a conference in Bangladesh, which celebrated the achievements of Clinical Psychology and a symposium on psychosocial responses to disasters, where he also described the work and achievements of the Children and War Foundation.

Read more: Detention centres are factories for mental illness.