Ramallah – May 14th, 2024. The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) concluded today, Tuesday, a training course entitled “Initial Psychological Support: Supporting the Rights of Workers in the Journalism Sector to Obtain Initial Psychological Support,” in the city of Ramallah, for Palestinian media and journalism students from various Palestinian universities, as part of the “Psychological Supporters: Supporting the Rights of Journalists to Access Mental Health and Well-being” project, funded by the French Consulate General in Jerusalem.
The training was held on Monday and Tuesday with the participation of 28 students from journalism and media faculties in Palestinian universities, for 12 training hours. This aims to forming initial psychological support teams that work as mobile clinics throughout the West Bank to provide primary psychological support service to male and female journalists who are exposed to different professional pressure on a daily basis. In addition to being exposed to violations of media rights or human rights in general.
The session was opened by welcoming the participants by the project coordinator, HADEEL MUBARAK, who learned about the project and explained its subsequent stages. Also, it explained that the basic idea on which the project was built is the pressures that journalists are facing in their lives in light of the current situation, as many journalists have recently expressed the difficulty of the psychological conditions they are in and their inability to continue in their profession.
Trainer RENAD HAMMOUZ touched on many topics, including psychological management in disaster situations and response to risks, in addition to introducing participants to the rules that include preparing for disaster situations before they occur, dealing with them when they occur, and the appropriate response mechanism for various psychological contexts.
The training also included introducing the characteristics of the first psychological aid service provider, which include the ability to assess the situation, in addition to being calm, the ability to control their reactions, and the ability to evaluate the appropriate time to provide the first psychological support service.
On the other hand, Trainer HAMMOUZ touched on the principles of initial psychological support, which include listening and examining the environment, writing reports related to initial psychological support, and conducting initial psychological debriefing sessions. The training also included an initial psychological debrief for the participants as simulated cases of reality, and other exercises for self-identification, solidarity, and respect for diversity and difference.
Mr. ISMAIL ABU ZIADEH, the psychological specialist and consultant at MADA has participated in the mentioned training, and He participated in the specialized training, who in turn supervised the practical side of the training through a set of self-care exercises, such as role-playing, drawing, setting goals and ambitions, and using games as a means of psychological debrief.
The participants expressed their great need for such training and the work that will follow in light of the complex circumstances and environment in which journalists have been working, especially during the past months, which has put them under strong pressure, where most of them have become in need of such sessions for psychological debrief. They also expressed the benefit which was achieved by learning to control their feelings and emotions, as they gained knowledge of a new subject that was unfamiliar to them.
At the end of the training, the participants recommended holding other similar training, including practical training and specialized follow-up, and providing similar training aimed at enabling workers in the journalism sector to deal with crises and adapt in light of the ongoing changes in the media world, which may result in new risks.
