News from Berlin

News from Berlin – The conference “Trauma and Resilience” took place in Berlin at the Waldfriede hospital from July 2nd to July 4th and was organized by the Friedenau University, Germany, ADRA Germany and Loma Linda University, USA.

“As natural disasters and complex emergencies over the last decades have increased in frequency and scope, the world NGO community, while frequently underfunded to address the resulting complex problems, has developed robust mechanisms to respond to many of the presenting immediate needs. However, what about the needs of the helpers, who witness and experience trauma first hand? How can they cope with their own trauma and stay resilient? How can they deal with the trauma of the people they care for?” – These are just some of the questions which were discussed and talked about at the conference.

At six plenary sessions and four workshops, providers, trauma experts and academician discussed how existing codes of conduct, principles of action and minimum standards in humanitarian aid do not yet adequately address issues of post disaster psychological and psychiatric disorder, trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder, which are the result of catastrophic life experiences. The conference was an interdisciplinary approach to this extremely important topic and it was an initiative aimed at increasing knowledge and skills surrounding the topic to help future aid initiatives be more successful.

News from Berlin – Berlin Global