Trauma-Focused Lay Counselor Training for Disaster Mental Health Care in Developing Countries

Natural and human caused disasters affect tens of millions of people a year globally.  Disasters happen with much greater frequency in developing countries, with the majority of deaths occurring from natural disasters and primarily among the poor.  Developing countries are sorely lacking in Disaster Mental Health (DMH) care following a disaster, particularly the provision of longer term trauma and grief focused counseling for individuals and families.  This is largely because of the extreme shortage of mental health professionals in resource limited countries and the absence of a longer term DMH care program in many areas of the world.  Hence, there is the need for trained lay counselors within disaster impacted areas and communities who can provide counsel and practical help to survivors.  This article discusses the importance and role of lay counselor training in DMH and outlines a two-day disaster care training program for indigenous lay leaders and helpers in developing countries.  The contents of the DMH program, as well as the execution of this ongoing program in Nepal soon after and since the 2015 earthquakes, serves as an example of what can be done in other developing countries in both pre- and post-disaster training of lay personnel.