Primeros auxilios psicológicos y resiliencia en tiempos de crisis

Psychological First Aid (PFA) is a set of techniques based on scientific evidence, aimed at strengthening the resilience of individuals, teams and communities. Its goals are to reduce symptoms of stress and contribute to a healthy recovery after a traumatic event, such as a natural disaster, a public health emergency, or even a personal crisis. The emotional impact of these types of situations is not always as visible as that of physical injuries, but it can be even more painful and disabling than physical injuries.

Resilience, in turn, is the ability of individuals and communities to recover from a potentially traumatic situation by expanding resources for coping, generating learning that reinforces their own identity and their crisis response without the presence of sequelae or of chronification of symptoms.

Both concepts are not new, but until now they have remained within the specific field of knowledge of psychology. However, the health, economic and social crisis associated with the COVID19 pandemic has placed the skills for emotional management and coping with complicated situations in the focus of many publications. On the one hand, this disclosure is helping a lot to raise awareness about the importance of good mental health, opening spaces for activities of self-knowledge and emotional care. But, on the other hand, not all the information that has been shared in recent times has enough precision and rigor to be really useful to people.

This Course is designed for people with a basic understanding of psychology, medicine, nursing, or public health. It aims to offer a broad, evidence-based view of how we can help ourselves, our loved ones, and the people we work with to better cope with any critical event that we face during our personal and professional lives. The Course offers a practical overview of what to do and not do in these types of situations and about the risk factors and protective factors involved in them. Finally, it also raises awareness about self-care activities, both those necessary on a personal level and those required in the professional field.