This recording will discuss the unique challenges of community mental health work in contexts of stigma, conflict, and continued injustice. The recording will explore the cultural and regional history of mental health in the Middle East, with a focus on how conflict in this region has led to trauma for refugees, migrants, survivors of conflict, and others and has also contributed to insufficient models of care for trauma-affected populations in the region. Using the Middle East and forced migrants as a lens to explore alternative systems of healing, Beyond Conflict will share their experience of a cross-cultural and innovative method for community mental health, using storytelling, neurobiology education, and emotion regulation, and will explore further innovative tools for assessing mental health and the impact of mental health programs in non-Western communities.
File type | File name | Number of pages | |
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Handout - Working in Syrian Refugee Communities (42 MB) | 126 Pages | Available after Purchase | |
Field Guide Overview (4.4 MB) | 9 Pages | Available after Purchase | |
Field Guide (12.9 MB) | 104 Pages | Available after Purchase | |
Impact Report 2020 (725.4 KB) | 33 Pages | Available after Purchase | |
CBS Article (2 MB) | 5 Pages | Available after Purchase | |
Text Document | Transcript (23.1 KB) | 12 Pages | Available after Purchase |
Michael Niconchuk is a neuroscience researcher, author, and technical expert in mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) in conflict settings and the neuroscience of intergroup conflict. Michael currently serves as the Mental Health and Armed Conflict Program Director at Beyond Conflict and Senior Technical Expert for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support at Questscope in Amman, Jordan.
In his role, Michael leads various initiatives focusing on mental health and conflict, building programs to support community mental health among conflict-affected populations, and addressing links between mental health and cycles of violence in communities, including challenges such as the reintegration of former combatant populations, deradicalization and mental health of violent extremists, and social stability in trauma-affected communities. Michael is the author of several innovative scientific publications on issues of neuroscience, trauma, violent extremism, and intergroup relations. Mike is the author of the Field Guide for Barefoot Psychology and oversees the program’s implementation in the Middle East and Americas.
Michael is a former Fulbright Scholar and is fluent in English, Spanish, and Arabic. He holds degrees from Tufts University (BA, International Relations) and University College London (MSc Social Cognition).
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Michael Niconchuk has an employment relationship with Wend Collective and receives royalties as a published author. He receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Michael Niconchuk is an advisor for the Center for the Study of Trauma and Radicalization. He is a board member of Tällberg Foundation and the #MeWe International, Inc.
Vivian Khedari DePierro holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology by the New School for Social Research and is a Predoctoral Psychology Intern at Montefiore Medical Center who first trained as a psychologist at Universidad Católica Andres Bello in Caracas, Venezuela. She has extensive clinical experience working with children and adults and is particularly interested in the treatment of psychological trauma and working with at-risk youth, forcibly displaced people and immigrants. She has been involved in research on the physiological markers of complex and acute trauma in the US, South Sudan and South Africa; and recently completed the first RCT of The Field Guide for Barefoot Psychologists with Beyond Conflict in Jordan as part of her doctoral dissertation. Vivian integrates her research work into her clinical practice, working through a lens that considers clinical theory, psychobiology and the cultural and sociopolitical context.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Vivian Khedari DePierro maintains a private practice and has employment relationships with Glasswing International and Beyond Conflict. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Vivian Khedari DePierro has no relevant non-financial relationships.
Alaaeddin Al-Ghazawi, BA, is a facilitator for The Field Guide for Barefoot Psychology with Questscope for Social Development in the Middle East. he lives and works in Za'atri Refugee Camp in Jordan. Displaced from Syria in 2013, Alaa has worked with various humanitarian organizations as a community organizer, case manager, and peer trainer, building community awareness and capacity specifically in mental health and psychosocial support, sexual and reproductive health, and men's role in the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence. Since 2018, Alaa has led the community contextualization of emotion regulation exercises for The Field Guide in Za'atri Camp. He holds a BA in History from Zarqa University in Jordan and is an MA Candidate in Psychology at Üsküdar University in Istanbul, Turkey.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Alaaeddin Al-Ghazawi is a facilitator for The Field Guide for Barefoot Psychology, Questscope. He works with the Za’atri Refugee Camp.
Non-financial: Alaaeddin Al-Ghazawi has no relevant non-financial relationship to disclose.
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