Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Humanitarian Programme Managers, Protection Officers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 7 Nov 2026 Course code SD-HR-043

Before you join: Participants should have practical exposure to humanitarian, development, public health, protection, education or community programmes.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Humanitarian crises expose people to bereavement, family separation, violence, displacement, disrupted livelihoods and loss of social support. Teams must recognise normal reactions to adversity, identify people requiring focused or specialised care, and avoid interventions that create dependency, stigma or protection risks. Poorly coordinated support can duplicate services, miss high-risk groups and place unqualified staff in inappropriate clinical roles.

This course prepares participants to plan, coordinate and deliver mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) within humanitarian response. Participants use the IASC MHPSS pyramid, Psychological First Aid, participatory assessment methods, referral pathway design and the IASC 4Ws coordination tool. They learn to integrate MHPSS into protection, health, education, shelter, food security and cash programmes while applying safeguarding, informed consent, confidentiality and Do No Harm principles.

Teaching combines instructor briefings with humanitarian case work, group planning tasks, role-based simulations and structured review of operational tools. Cases reflect displacement settings, natural hazard response, conflict-affected communities and emergency programmes serving children, adolescents, survivors of violence and frontline workers. Participants leave with a practical MHPSS response package containing an assessment outline, service mapping format, referral pathway, activity plan, monitoring framework and personal application plan. The course is delivered over five days in classroom locations in 50+ cities or live online, with approximately 6.5 contact hours each day. Participants receive a certificate of completion.

The course suits programme, protection, health, education, community engagement and coordination personnel who already work in humanitarian or development settings and need to make sound operational decisions about MHPSS services.

What you will be able to do

  • Apply the IASC MHPSS pyramid to prioritise layered support services
  • Conduct participatory MHPSS assessments using ethical data collection and risk analysis
  • Design referral pathways with service mapping, consent procedures and follow-up responsibilities
  • Deliver Psychological First Aid using Look, Listen and Link actions
  • Integrate MHPSS activities into protection, health, education and basic-needs programmes
  • Coordinate actors using the IASC 4Ws mapping framework and agreed service standards
  • Develop MHPSS monitoring indicators, feedback mechanisms and safe data-management procedures
  • Produce an operational MHPSS action plan with safeguarding and staff-care measures

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Make defensible decisions about appropriate MHPSS support levels and referral thresholds
  • Lead safer conversations with distressed people using Psychological First Aid principles
  • Build credible MHPSS components for proposals, response plans and programme revisions
  • Coordinate confidently with health, protection, education and community-based service providers
  • Recognise personal stress exposure and apply a structured staff-care plan

For your organisation

  • Improves consistency between MHPSS activities, protection commitments and humanitarian principles
  • Reduces inappropriate referrals, unmanaged disclosures and unsafe handling of sensitive information
  • Strengthens service coordination through mapped providers, defined roles and referral agreements
  • Produces clearer evidence of reach, quality, feedback and protection outcomes
  • Supports duty-of-care arrangements for staff and volunteers exposed to distressing work

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can explain the purpose, scope and ethical basis of MHPSS in humanitarian action.

  • Humanitarian principles, protection risks and MHPSS obligations under IASC guidance
  • Distinguishing distress, mental health conditions and social support needs
  • Ecological model linking individual, family, community and structural factors
  • Conflict, displacement and loss as stressors without pathologising reactions
  • Do No Harm analysis for assistance, communication and participation
  • Rights-based MHPSS framed through dignity, agency and non-discrimination

Participants can use the IASC framework to select proportionate MHPSS response options.

  • IASC MHPSS pyramid: basic services, community supports, focused and specialised care
  • Layered interventions matched to assessed needs, risks and local capacities
  • Basic services designed to protect dignity, safety and social connection
  • Community and family supports that strengthen existing coping resources
  • Focused non-specialised support delivered within defined staff competencies
  • Specialised mental health care linked to qualified clinical providers
  • Prioritisation criteria for populations facing acute distress and protection threats

Participants can plan an ethical MHPSS assessment that informs operational priorities.

  • Secondary data review using humanitarian needs assessments and service records
  • Participatory assessment questions on stressors, coping, supports and barriers
  • Key informant interviews with community representatives and service providers
  • Focus group protocols adapted for age, gender, disability and safety
  • Risk analysis covering suicide concerns, violence disclosures and urgent referrals
  • Disaggregating findings by age, gender, disability, location and displacement status
  • Assessment synthesis separating expressed needs from feasible response options

Participants can provide Psychological First Aid within safe roles, limits and referral procedures.

  • WHO Psychological First Aid: Look, Listen and Link action sequence
  • Approaching distressed people respectfully without forcing disclosure or recounting trauma
  • Active listening techniques: open questions, reflection, summarising and silence
  • Immediate practical support for safety, information, family contact and basic needs
  • Grounding techniques for acute distress without making clinical claims
  • Communication boundaries, informed consent and confidentiality in crowded response settings
  • Escalation criteria for imminent harm, severe symptoms and safeguarding concerns

Participants can design inclusive community-based psychosocial support activities with affected people.

  • Community mapping of informal supports, leaders, groups and trusted spaces
  • Participatory design methods that include women, adolescents, older people and persons with disabilities
  • Structured group activities supporting connection, routine, expression and mutual aid
  • Child and adolescent activities aligned with safeguarding and developmental needs
  • Strengthening caregiver support through family routines and positive communication
  • Managing expectations, volunteer roles and boundaries within community activities
  • Exit planning that transfers ownership without withdrawing essential referral support

Participants can establish safe referral arrangements for people needing additional support.

  • Service mapping by provider, eligibility, location, capacity and operating hours
  • Referral pathway diagrams showing consent, handover, follow-up and closure
  • Informed consent procedures for adults, children and legal guardians
  • Confidential case information handled through minimum necessary data principles
  • Case management boundaries between psychosocial workers and clinical practitioners
  • Safeguarding, PSEA and child-protection reporting responsibilities during referrals
  • Referral follow-up that checks access, safety, satisfaction and unresolved barriers

Participants can incorporate practical MHPSS measures into multisector humanitarian programmes.

  • Protection mainstreaming actions that reduce psychosocial and safety risks
  • Health integration through triage, referral protocols and continuity of medicines
  • Education interventions supporting routine, belonging, teacher wellbeing and referral
  • Shelter and site planning for privacy, accessibility, safety and social connection
  • Cash and livelihoods programming designed around dignity, choice and stress reduction
  • Community feedback systems identifying distress, exclusion and harmful programme effects
  • Sector workplans with MHPSS responsibilities, indicators and coordination arrangements

Participants can coordinate MHPSS actors and manage information responsibly during response operations.

  • IASC 4Ws mapping: who does what, where and when
  • Coordination terms of reference defining membership, decisions and information flows
  • Service gap analysis by population group, geography and intervention layer
  • Referral directories maintained through provider verification and scheduled updates
  • Data protection principles for sensitive mental health and protection information
  • Aggregate reporting that avoids identification, stigma and unnecessary data collection
  • Coordination advocacy based on unmet needs, service capacity and response quality

Participants can develop practical MHPSS monitoring and accountability arrangements for programmes.

  • Theory of change linking activities, outputs, outcomes and protection assumptions
  • Indicator selection for reach, participation, functioning, safety and referral completion
  • Pre- and post-activity feedback tools suitable for low-literacy settings
  • Qualitative monitoring through participant feedback, observation and community dialogue
  • Complaints mechanisms designed for confidentiality, accessibility and survivor-centred response
  • Data quality checks for completeness, disaggregation, consent and secure storage
  • Adaptive management decisions based on monitoring findings and community feedback

Participants can establish staff-care measures and apply course methods to an operational MHPSS plan.

  • Occupational stress, secondary traumatic stress and burnout warning signs
  • Team wellbeing plans covering workload, rest, peer support and escalation
  • Supportive supervision structures for psychosocial workers and volunteers
  • Role clarity and competency limits for non-specialist MHPSS personnel
  • Critical incident procedures following death, violence, threats or serious disclosures
  • Personal wellbeing practices linked to realistic work patterns and support networks
  • Ninety-day application plan with priorities, stakeholders, milestones and review points

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. IASC MHPSS pyramid decision guide
  2. Participatory MHPSS assessment template
  3. Service mapping and referral pathway template
  4. Psychological First Aid communication checklist
  5. MHPSS monitoring and feedback framework
  6. Ninety-day MHPSS application plan

Who should attend

  • Humanitarian Programme Managers — plan accountable MHPSS components within emergency portfolios
  • Protection Officers — identify psychosocial risks and establish safe support pathways
  • Health and Mental Health Staff — connect clinical care with community-based supports
  • Education in Emergencies Practitioners — create supportive learning environments for affected children
  • Community Engagement Officers — organise inclusive, participatory psychosocial activities and feedback channels
  • Cluster and Coordination Personnel — map services, reduce duplication and address response gaps

Skills and tools covered

MHPSS programme designPsychological First AidReferral pathway designProtection risk analysisMHPSS coordinationStaff care planning

Tools and standards

IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings, IASC MHPSS Pyramid, WHO Psychological First Aid: Look, Listen and Link, IASC 4Ws MHPSS Coordination Tool

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short technical briefings, facilitated discussion and practical humanitarian case work. Participants analyse crisis scenarios, classify MHPSS needs using the IASC pyramid, conduct assessment planning, map services and construct referral pathways. Psychological First Aid simulations build communication and boundary-setting skills without asking participants to act as clinicians. Group exercises examine programme integration, safeguarding dilemmas, coordination challenges and monitoring data. Each participant develops an application plan linked to their current role, programme or response context.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical exposure to humanitarian, development, public health, protection, education or community programmes. They should understand basic humanitarian principles and be familiar with the realities of crisis-affected communities, including referral to local services. Prior clinical mental health qualifications are not required, and the course does not train participants to diagnose mental disorders or provide psychotherapy. No specialist statistics, medical knowledge or prior Psychological First Aid certification is assumed. Participants should be prepared to discuss sensitive operational scenarios involving distress, violence, loss and displacement.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should have some exposure to humanitarian, development, protection, health, education or community programming. Clinical mental health training is not required, and the course does not prepare participants to diagnose conditions or deliver psychotherapy.

Bring a laptop or tablet if possible, along with a current programme document, assessment summary or response plan from your work. These materials are optional but help participants apply the tools to a real operational context.

The course is designed for programme managers, protection officers, health staff, education personnel, community engagement teams and coordination staff. It is particularly useful for personnel responsible for designing, overseeing or referring into MHPSS services.

This course focuses on humanitarian MHPSS systems, community support, Psychological First Aid, protection, referral and programme quality. It does not teach psychotherapy, psychiatric diagnosis, trauma treatment or clinical case management.

Participants can review an existing activity against the IASC MHPSS pyramid, improve a referral pathway or map local providers using the 4Ws format. They also leave with a time-bound application plan for their team or programme.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The five days progress from MHPSS foundations and assessment through Psychological First Aid, referral, integration, coordination, monitoring and staff care.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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