Attachments
INTRODUCTION
Helping people in distress is something we do naturally, and is sometimes called psychological first aid (PFA). PFA is recommended by expert consensus as the ‘Do No Harm’ approach to helping people who have recently experienced a crisis event and are distressed. 15 Because children and adolescents often are the first to observe and learn about their friends’ concerns, adults around them have a responsibility to support them in knowing what to say and do, what NOT to say and do, and when to seek support. The I Support My Friends training will equip children and adolescents to provide peer-to-peer PFA during times of crisis.
The Training Manual is one component of the I Support My Friends resource kit. The resource kit provides guidance and tools for preparing, designing and implementing trainings with children and adolescents in how to support a friend in distress. It includes four components:
• The Theory and Implementation Guide presents an overview of key concepts and the theoretical foundation of I Support My Friends.
• The Training Manual (the document you are now reading) outlines, step by step, the three-day training for children and adolescents, including what materials are needed and examples of case studies/stories.
• The Participant’s Workbook contains the worksheets to be used by participants in the training. Each participant should receive his or her own workbook, which contains written information as well as space for notes and drawings.
• The Manual for training of facilitators and focal points includes the materials needed to build the capacity of the facilitators and Focal Point(s) who will implement the training for children and adolescents. The package includes a training manual, agenda, PowerPoint slides and other guiding materials.
For more information about I Support My Friends, ethical considerations, the requirements, role and responsibilities of the Focal Point(s) and more, please consult the Theory and Implementation Guide. This guide must be read in its entirety before implementing a training in I Support My Friends.