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7. The relationship between therapy, psychosocial work, and support in situations of crisis
7. The relationship between therapy, psychosocial work, and support in situations of crisis
PART I: POINTS OF DEPARTURE
Aim. To clarify the relationship between different working methods. To describe psychosocial support.
Psychosocial intervention
• A psychosocial intervention is a therapeutic intervention that uses cognitive, cognitivebehavioural, behavioural or supportive techniques to relieve pain. Methods include patient education, interventions to aid relaxation, psychotherapy, and structured or peer support.
• It is commonly used alongside psycho-educational or psycho-pharmacological interventions and seeks solutions for individuals who find it difficult to interact with the social environment.
•‘ Psychosocial’ refers to the close relationship between the individual and collective aspects of any social entity. They mutually influence each other.
• It seeks to deal with‘ psychological’ effects that are caused by experiences that affect an individual’ s emotions, behaviour, thoughts, memory, and learning capacity. To a large extent, psychological effects depend on the way in which these events are perceived and given meaning by the individual.
•‘ Social effects’ are the shared experiences of disruptive events that affect the relations between people – not only as a result of the events but also of death, separation and a sense of loss. They have an economic and political dimension, since many people suffer in numerous ways as a result of disasters or armed conflicts.
• It is an approach that aims to improve people’ s well-being.
• The psychological well-being of a person after severe and disruptive events is strongly linked to the knowledge and skills that she possesses, available social support, culture, and values that influence her experience.
Psychosocial support
• Psychosocial support is an approach to victims of violence or natural disasters that fosters the resilience of both communities and individuals. It seeks to facilitate the resumption of normalcy and to prevent pathological consequences of potentially traumatic situations.
Psychotherapeutic interventions
• Psychotherapy refers to psychological or psychiatric interventions based on a contract between a trained professional and a client, patient, family, couple, or group.
• Psychotherapy includes both assessments and explorations of needs, thoughts and feelings with the aim of understanding a problem, establishing a therapeutic relationship or alliance and defining ways to work on the problem presented. Therapists may use different approaches and methods, depending on their training, the problem presented, and the situation of the person seeking help. Therapy usually takes place over a period of time, is evaluated by those involved during the process, and concluded by agreement.