NEPAL
Around 40 psycho-social counselors from the 14 earthquake-affected districts participated in a five-day “Art-based Psycho-social Training” this month. Facilitated by the experts from Art Refuge UK, the UNICEF-supported training aimed to enhance the counselor’s capacity to use expressive art to provide psycho-social support and promote safe environments to build relationships with children, men and women seeking psycho-social services. “Sometimes I met dead ends, dead ends when working with very sensitive cases of individual child as they would not open up and it was extremely difficult for me to proceed with the conversation for the counselling,” reflected a training participant. “But I am rich now, I am taking a lot from this training and I will use the learned art techniques for the children and women I work with.” The training was part of UNICEF’s support for establishment and functioning of psycho-social support centers in all the 14 earthquake-affected districts of Nepal.