Description
This book examines the psychological pressures faced by workers who migrate for short periods, exploring what it means to work in high-stress environments, often on time-limited contracts and with low levels of support; and how best to protect this kind of key worker.
The text addresses three central questions. First, how we can think about the experiences of workers on the move? Second, what forms of support given by who, and when, provide the best staff care? Finally, how can appropriate and timely staff support by organisations influence the lives of workers on the move? The authors, all psychological therapists and many former international workers, offer recommendations for workers in humanitarian aid, the mission sector, international contracting and seafaring, among others, taking into account the changing world of work, and the impact on this of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Psychological Support for Workers on the Move provides essential guidance to organisations posting personnel internationally, to psychological and wellbeing therapists working with them, and to individual workers themselves
Table of Contents
Foreword
Rachel Tribe
Introduction
Kate S. Thompson
1. ‘Good fit’ & righting the relationship – an exploration of employee & organisational relationships in the international aid sector
Felicity Runchman
2. Building resilience among staff working internationally
Debbie and David Hawker
3. Searching for security: An attachment perspective on aid worker relationships
Mark Snelling
4. A sticking plaster on a gaping wound: "Moral injury", stress and burn out in humanitarian aid workers
Kate S. Thompson
5. Sharing family dilemmas for those working internationally
Beth Hill and David Hawker
6. Supporting grassroots aid workers and volunteers
Leslie Brownbridge
7. Supporting those with religious faith in the humanitarian sector: cultural and psychotherapeutic considerations
Graham Fawcett
8. Seafarers: ‘They that go down to the sea in ships to do business in great waters’
Pennie Blackburn
9. Supporting international contractors working in aid and development contexts
Kate S. Thompson, Mark Snelling and Lynn Keane
10. Psychosocial support work with aid and development staff following sexual trauma
Lynn Keane
11. Working with children and young people whose families are working away from their home country
David Hawker and Beth Hill
12. Who’s the client? Limitations and advantages of therapeutic work as a psychological contractor for aid organisations
Ben Porter
13. Meeting needs remotely – online support for international staff
Felicity Runchman and Kate S. Thompson
Concluding remarks
Kate S. Thompson
