The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) jointly with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) organized a Training of Trainers (TOT) seminar on the topic of 'Providing psychosocial support for specialized teams of the Iranian Red Crescent Society.'
The three-day seminar, which took place in Tehran from August 24 to 26, aimed to strengthen the mental health and psychosocial support of IRCS staff involved in emergency response. As announced on the ICRC website in a press release dated August 26, the event was a response to the psychological pressure experienced by rescue and aid personnel working in conflict, crisis, and other stressful situations.
About 20 psychologists from different regions of Iran participated in the training. The program combined theoretical study, practical exercises, and discussions, covering topics such as employee well-being and resilience, peer support, identification of psychological distress, referral pathways for assistance, supportive interventions, and self-help methods.
Roman Paramanov, Deputy Head of the ICRC delegation in Iran, noted at the opening ceremony that this initiative continues a series of four previous seminars held last year, which trained approximately 160 frontline response staff of IRCS.
The seminar utilized a two-stage cascade training model to disseminate psychosocial support throughout the IRCS Aid and Rescue Organization. In the first stage, participants from provinces underwent a three-day TOT, which enhanced their skills in employee well-being, self-help, peer support, identifying psychological distress, and referral to specialists. In the second stage, the trained psychologists work in pairs to jointly conduct workshops on mental self-care and psychosocial support for managers of aid and rescue bases, as well as operational staff.
Thanks to this cascade approach, the program aims to cover about 600 IRCS staff members, while continuous supervision, online monitoring, and technical support ensure the stable application and long-term sustainability of the program.