Scaling Up Family Therapy in Fragile, Conflict-Affected States

Area of Science:

• Mental Health
• Family Therapy
• Humanitarian Aid

Background:

• International projects focused on family therapy training in fragile and post-conflict states.
• Support provided by local, regional, and international stakeholders within a humanitarian agenda.
• Development of human resource capacity for working with families affected by atrocities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To discuss the design and delivery of two international family therapy training projects.
• To illustrate the application of task-shifting/task-sharing and transitional justice approaches.
• To exemplify the influence of state-citizen phenomena on project design and delivery.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of family therapy-focused mental health and psychosocial support training.
• Involvement of local, regional, and international stakeholders.
• Application of task-shifting/task-sharing and transitional justice frameworks.

Main Results:

• Successful design and delivery of training projects in Southeast Asia and the Middle East/North Africa.
• Demonstrated use of task-shifting/task-sharing to scale up professionals.
• Highlighted the impact of state-citizen dynamics on project implementation.

Conclusions:

• Family therapy training is crucial for supporting vulnerable populations in complex humanitarian settings.
• Task-shifting and transitional justice are viable strategies for capacity building.
• Context-specific factors, including state-citizen relations, significantly influence project outcomes.