EMDR HAP training in Pakistan in the aftermath of the 2005 earthquake and the ‘War on terror’

On Saturday 8th October 2005, a devastating earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale struck northern Pakistan. The magnitude of the earthquake wiped out entire villages and communities, destroyed 400,000 houses and created over 73,000 fatalities and 135,000 people injured. EMDR UK & Ireland, EMDR Europe, the British/ Pakistani Psychiatric Association & the University of Birmingham supported an eighteen month Humanitarian Assistance Programme to help train forty-nine mental health workers, mainly psychiatrists and psychologists from the earthquake affected areas, in the theory and practice of EMDR in the management of psychological trauma. This programme was one of the first University based HAP trainings in EMDR ever to be undertaken. This paper will provide an insight into the development and progression of the trainings in light of the ongoing political problems in Pakistan both in terms of post earthquake reconstruction and the continued threat of terrorist attacks throughout Pakistan. It will also consider cultural perspectives of trauma and how this related to both EMDR and the conceptual framework of PTSD. The paper will also highlight some of the psychometric data acquired from survivors from the earthquake areas and demonstrate the ways in which EMDR is being utilised as a psychological treatment intervention in Northern Pakistan.

Conference

English

Derek Farrell
Saleem Tareen
Paul Keenan

Farrell, D., Tareen, S., & Keenan, P. (2008, November). EMDR HAP training in Pakistan in the aftermath of the 2005 earthquake and the "War on terror". Presentation at the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies 24th Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL. doi:10.1037/e517302011-142