Hi, i'm pernille Hansen. I work as a Technical Advisor for the IFRC Psychosocial Centre. In this video i'll be talking about Psychological First Aid also known as PFA. I'll talk about what PFA is and what it's not, who might benefit from PFA and who can provide PFA. I'll also talk about when you provide PFA to someone and where you can do it and last, I'll introduce how you provide PFA, but you can learn more about that in a separate video on Look, Listen and Link So, what is Psychological First Aid? PFA is both a set of skills and knowledge that you can use to help someone in distress, it's also a method of helping someone to feel calm and able to cope in a difficult situation. When you learn Psychological First Aid you learn how to assess a situation - for example how to recognize who needs help. You also learn about common versus severe reactions, you also learn about how to approach someone who's in distress, and how to calm them if it is needed. And last, you learn how to provide emotional support and practical help. There are some different ideas of what Psychological First Aid is and what it isn't. I'm going to help clarify that. PFA is comforting someone in distress and helping them feel safe and calm. PFA is also assessing needs and concerns, PFA is protecting people from further harm, it's also providing emotional support. PFA is also helping to address immediate basic needs such as food, water, a blanket, or a temporary place to stay. You might not think this is part of Psychological First Aid, but it's always important to address basic needs before providing other support. And last, PFA is also helping people access information, services and social support. There are also some things that PFA is not. PFA is for example not something that only professionals do. Anyone can provide PFA after they've received training. PFA is also not professional counselling or therapy. It's often a one-time event and it can just take a few minutes. PFA is also not encouraging a detailed discussion of the event that has led to someone feeling distressed. So it's not asking someone to analyse what happened to them. In PFA we usually ask the questions: What has happened? When did it happen? Where did it happen ? But we very rarely use the term why, so we don't ask someone to analyse why they were there or why they were engaged in the behaviour they were. PFA is also not pressing someone for details on what has happened. It's not pressuring anyone to share their feelings or reactions to an event, some people prefer not to say anything and that's fine. So, who needs PFA, who might benefit from Psychological First Aid? An easy answer is, anyone who's in distress might benefit from PFA, however not everybody needs or wants PFA and the best way to find out if somebody wants your help is simply to ask them. Remember not all people need or want PFA. And who can give PFA? Anyone who's been trained in PFA. In fact, you may already have been using pfa skills without knowing that that's what you were doing. So, when do you provide PFA? Well, the easy rule of thumb is, when someone is in distress, and that could be during a difficult event or it could be after an event. Some people only feel distressed hours later, days later, weeks later or even months later. PFA is a way of helping someone at any point when someone feels distress. You can use your PFA skills in a personal crisis or in a larger crisis that affects many people around you. So, where can you provide PFA? You can provide pfa anywhere where you and the person in distress are safe. If there's a risk to safety to either you or the other person, now is not the time for pfa. If possible, try to find a private space where the person in distress feels comfortable, to share what they have experienced. All PFA actions are done with the thought of doing no harm, we always follow the do-no-harm principles. That involves: First, safety. Avoid putting people at further risk because of your actions. Make sure to the best of your ability that the people you help are safe and protect them from physical or psychological harm. Second: Dignity. Treat people with respect and in accordance with their cultural and social norms. Third: Rights. Make sure that all people can access help fairly and without discrimination. Your role is to help people claim their rights and access available support. Remember to always act only in the best interest of the person you encounter. We can provide PFA using multiple methods. Of course, you can give PFA face-to-face, but you can also do it over the phone or on a zoom call on your computer or you can even give pfa through WhatsApp or text or telegram Thank you for your attention, you can learn more about pfa and download our materials from the IFRC psychosocial Centre website and there you can also find different training materials.