Psychological First Aid

Description

Delivery: 3.5 hours via face-to-face classroom or virtually via Zoom

Audience: Anyone, 18 years +

Following a critical event, it is widely recognised that community service workers often encounter people in crisis who need immediate assistance. But more and more, community members and those working and volunteering in positions across various industries are finding that they are the first point of contact – and play an important supportive role – for those experiencing distress.

Although most people experience distress following a disaster or critical incident, the majority will recover using existing coping strategies and social supports. As such, formal intervention in the immediate aftermath is generally not recommended. Rather, Psychological First Aid (PFA) is internationally endorsed as the appropriate initial response. 

The PFA workshop equips frontline workers, community members, and those working and volunteering in various industries with people impacted by trauma, with the skills needed to provide emotional comfort and support and offer practical advice and assistance to address immediate needs.

Underpinned by a person-centred and trauma-informed approach, the PFA workshop utilises the eight core features of psychological first aid to support you to:

• develop skills in communicating with, and reducing the initial distress of, people affected by a critical event
• support people to rebuild a sense of control and empowerment in the face of disaster, and utilise their own strengths and abilities to identify and address their own immediate needs
• foster short-term adaptive functioning and build resilience
• minimise the risk of further harm
• identify those in need of further support
• consider the importance of self-care when supporting others.

The workshop is interactive, encouraging you to ask questions and engage in learning activities as well as share personal experiences and self-reflections.