Promoting Darfuri women’s psychosocial health: developing a war trauma counsellor training programme tailored to the person

Women are considered special groups who are uniquely vulnerable in the context of war exposures. To effectively target the resources aimed at mitigating mental health consequences and optimising and maximising the use of mental health provisions, culturally relevant war trauma counsellor training is required. The objectives of this study are to promote a new philosophy in the Sudanese mental health care by introducing an integrative approach for targeted prevention and tailored treatments to the Darfuri person in a cost-effective way. Furthermore, the study provides evidence- and theory-based guidelines for developing a war trauma counsellor training programme in Sudan, mainly based on qualitative and quantitative studies among war-affected Darfuri female students. Cultural conceptualisations such as gender roles and religious expectations as well as theories that emphasise resilience and other psychosocial adaptation skills have been operationalised to reflect the totality of the Darfuri women’s experiences. Furthermore, the results of four interrelated studies among war-traumatised undergraduate Darfuri women who are internally displaced provide the basis that guides an outline for qualification development, capacity building and skills consolidation among Sudanese mental health care providers. Explicit war-related psychosocial needs assessment tools, specific war-related trauma counsellor training and particular counsellor characteristics, qualities and awareness that pertain to strengthening the efficacy of war trauma Sudanese counsellors are recommended. The aim is to produce expertly trained war trauma counsellors working with war-affected Darfuri women in particular and with regards to their helpfulness in responding to the psychosocial needs of war-exposed Sudanese in general.