Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Training Course

Course Overview

The Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Training Course is designed to equip humanitarian professionals, healthcare providers, psychosocial support practitioners, government agencies, emergency responders, and development organizations with the knowledge, practical skills, and strategic competencies required to design, implement, coordinate, monitor, and evaluate effective Mental Health and Psychosocial Support interventions in humanitarian and development settings. Armed conflict, forced displacement, natural disasters, disease outbreaks, climate change, and other emergencies can have profound psychological, emotional, and social impacts on affected populations. This course provides comprehensive training in Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), psychological first aid, community-based psychosocial support, trauma-informed care, psychosocial resilience, humanitarian protection, psychological well-being, stress management, community resilience, humanitarian coordination, protection mainstreaming, Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP), and inclusive humanitarian programming to strengthen individual, family, and community recovery.

Participants will develop practical competencies in psychological first aid, psychosocial needs assessment, trauma-informed programming, community engagement, psychosocial case management, referral pathways, child and family psychosocial support, staff care and well-being, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Artificial Intelligence (AI), digital mental health platforms, mobile data collection, Mental Health Information Systems (MHIS), monitoring and evaluation, humanitarian information management, safeguarding, protection principles, and evidence-based humanitarian planning. Through practical exercises, simulations, role-playing activities, and real-world case studies, participants will strengthen their ability to provide safe, ethical, culturally appropriate, and person-centered psychosocial interventions while promoting resilience, dignity, inclusion, and recovery for crisis-affected populations.

The course also explores international humanitarian and mental health frameworks, including the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings, Sphere Humanitarian Standards, Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS), World Health Organization (WHO) Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP), international human rights principles, safeguarding, disability inclusion, gender-responsive programming, child protection, organizational well-being, localization, donor compliance, monitoring and evaluation, organizational governance, and institutional strengthening. Participants will strengthen their understanding of integrated, multi-sectoral MHPSS programming that promotes prevention, preparedness, response, recovery, resilience, and sustainable humanitarian outcomes.

Upon successful completion of the course, participants will be able to conduct psychosocial needs assessments, design community-based MHPSS interventions, provide psychological first aid, establish referral systems, strengthen staff well-being programs, integrate digital technologies into mental health programming, improve monitoring and evaluation systems, strengthen humanitarian coordination, promote community resilience, and develop comprehensive Mental Health and Psychosocial Support strategies that improve psychological well-being, recovery, protection, and humanitarian effectiveness.

Course Objectives

1. Understand the principles and international frameworks of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS).
2. Conduct psychosocial needs assessments and mental health risk analysis.
3. Apply Psychological First Aid (PFA) and trauma-informed approaches in humanitarian settings.
4. Design and implement community-based MHPSS interventions.
5. Strengthen referral systems and multi-sectoral mental health coordination.
6. Apply GIS, AI, and digital technologies to support mental health information management.
7. Promote resilience, safeguarding, protection, and Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP).
8. Strengthen monitoring, evaluation, learning, and reporting for MHPSS programs.
9. Improve staff care, stress management, and organizational well-being.
10. Develop sustainable MHPSS strategies that strengthen humanitarian recovery and resilience.

Organizational Benefits

1. Strengthens organizational capacity to deliver quality Mental Health and Psychosocial Support services.
2. Improves compliance with international MHPSS and humanitarian standards.
3. Enhances psychosocial well-being and resilience among crisis-affected populations.
4. Strengthens referral systems and coordinated mental health service delivery.
5. Improves staff well-being, resilience, and occupational health.
6. Promotes evidence-based humanitarian planning through quality psychosocial assessments.
7. Enhances organizational accountability, monitoring, and program quality.
8. Improves donor compliance and humanitarian reporting.
9. Strengthens community participation and psychosocial resilience.
10. Builds resilient organizations capable of delivering integrated, person-centered mental health and psychosocial support programs.

Target Participants

This course is designed for humanitarian program managers, psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, social workers, mental health professionals, psychosocial support officers, healthcare providers, protection officers, child protection specialists, safeguarding officers, emergency response coordinators, Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) officers, monitoring and evaluation specialists, humanitarian information management officers, government health officials, UN agencies, NGOs, Red Cross and Red Crescent personnel, community health workers, education professionals, disability inclusion practitioners, project managers, consultants, researchers, policy makers, civil society organizations, faith-based organizations, and professionals responsible for humanitarian response, psychosocial support, mental health services, community resilience, and humanitarian protection.

Course Outline

Module 1: Foundations of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support

• Principles of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS)
• IASC Guidelines for MHPSS in Emergency Settings
• Psychological well-being and resilience
• Humanitarian principles and ethics
• Trauma-informed care
• Sphere Humanitarian Standards and Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS)

General Case Study: Conducting an MHPSS assessment following a major humanitarian emergency to identify psychosocial needs and priority interventions for affected communities.

Module 2: Psychosocial Assessment and Community-Based Support

• Psychosocial needs assessment
• Community-based MHPSS approaches
• Psychological First Aid (PFA)
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for service mapping
• Community engagement and participation
• Referral pathways and coordination

General Case Study: Designing a community-based psychosocial support program for displaced populations affected by conflict and prolonged displacement.

Module 3: Specialized Mental Health and Protection Integration

• Trauma-informed interventions
• Child and family psychosocial support
• Gender-responsive MHPSS programming
• Protection mainstreaming and safeguarding
• Staff care and stress management
• Disability-inclusive psychosocial programming

General Case Study: Developing an integrated MHPSS and protection program that supports children, caregivers, and frontline humanitarian workers during an emergency response.

Module 4: Digital Mental Health and Information Management

• Artificial Intelligence applications
• Digital mental health platforms
• Mobile data collection
• Mental Health Information Systems (MHIS)
• Data protection and confidentiality
• Humanitarian information management

General Case Study: Implementing a secure digital mental health information system to monitor psychosocial service delivery and support evidence-based humanitarian decision-making.

Module 5: Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Coordination

• MHPSS monitoring frameworks
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP)
• Organizational learning
• Humanitarian coordination mechanisms
• Donor reporting and compliance

General Case Study: Evaluating the effectiveness of community-based psychosocial support interventions and incorporating beneficiary feedback to strengthen program quality and accountability.

Module 6: Strategic Mental Health Leadership and Future Innovations

• Strategic MHPSS planning
• Institutional capacity strengthening
• Climate-related mental health challenges
• Innovation in digital mental health
• Emerging technologies in psychosocial support
• Future trends in Mental Health and Psychosocial Support

General Case Study: Developing a comprehensive Mental Health and Psychosocial Support strategy integrating trauma-informed care, community resilience, Artificial Intelligence, digital health systems, staff well-being, humanitarian coordination, monitoring and evaluation, and organizational resilience across humanitarian operations.

General Information

1. Customized Training: All our courses can be tailored to meet the specific needs of participants.
2. Language Proficiency: Participants should have a good command of the English language.
3. Comprehensive Learning: Our training includes well-structured presentations, practical exercises, web-based tutorials, and collaborative group work. Our facilitators are seasoned experts with over a decade of experience.
4. Certification: Upon successful completion of training, participants will receive a certificate from Foscore Development Center (FDC-K).
5. Training Locations: Training sessions are conducted at Foscore Development Center (FDC-K) centers. We also offer options for in-house and online training, customized to the client's schedule.
6. Flexible Duration: Course durations are adaptable, and content can be adjusted to fit the required number of days.
7. Onsite Training Inclusions: The course fee for onsite training covers facilitation, training materials, two coffee breaks, a buffet lunch, and a Certificate of Successful Completion. Participants are responsible for their travel expenses, airport transfers, visa applications, dinners, health/accident insurance, and personal expenses.
8. Additional Services: Accommodation, pickup services, freight booking, and visa processing arrangements are available upon request at discounted rates.
9. Equipment: Tablets and laptops can be provided to participants at an additional cost.
10. Post-Training Support: We offer one year of free consultation and coaching after the course.
11. Group Discounts: Register as a group of more than two and enjoy a discount ranging from 10% to 50%.
12. Payment Terms: Payment should be made before the commencement of the training or as mutually agreed upon, to the Foscore Development Center account. This ensures better preparation for your training.
13. Contact Us: For any inquiries, please reach out to us at training@fdc-k.org or call us at +254712260031.
14. Website: Visit www.fdc-k.org for more information.