Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Training Manual for Social Workers – A Special Focus on Youth

Mental Health and Social Work go hand in hand. As a matter of fact, social determinants such as poverty, education, employment, and conflict are among the most influential in shaping a person’s wellbeing or ill-mental health. Moreover, social interventions are very powerful when used in helping a person with a mental health condition on the recovery path. For example, it is extremely useful for a person with depression to be supported in re-engaging with their social network, to be supported in addressing any source of stress, such as conflicts in their relationships, accommodating their situation when it comes to their work or school situation. This is even more relevant for young people, where the social support system is even more important to be supportive of their development.

The rationale behind this initiative, developed jointly between the National Mental Health Programme and the Syndicate of Social Workers with the support of SIDC and UNICEF, is to equip social workers with the tools needed to detect, assess and support the youth who might be experiencing a mental health condition. Capacity building of social and health human resources is a cornerstone in the Mental Health and Substance Use Strategy for Lebanon 2015-2020 that is currently under implementation.

We hope that this manual will be useful and helpful for social workers and that it will contribute to improving mental health in Lebanon, especially the mental health of youth.

English Full Manual

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