Crisis Intervention Training for European School Psychologists
A series of special training programs is being organized by Bernhard Meissner in collaboration with a school initiative in Würzburg, Germany (FELS: Forum of Parents with Teachers and Students), and with the European task force group of ISPA. The courses will be free of charge for the participants. The costs for the trainers, for hotel and travel of the participants will be paid for by the European Council in Brussels through their national agencies (see addresses below.)
Dr.
Yehuda Shacham and Dr. Shulamit Niv from Israel, and Prof.
Bill Pfohl
or Dr. Scott Poland from the USA will do the training;
Arthur Englbrecht and Bernhard Meissner will discuss their own experiences in
Germany. (See detailed program.)
The first course was held near
Trento (Italy) from September 20 – 26, 2003.
Click here to read the report.
The second course
was held in Nyborg, Denmark, from 17 - 23 April, 2004.
Click here to read the report.
The third course
was held in Innsbruck, Austria, from October 2 - 8, 2004.
There will be 5 working days. Colleagues should be able after this training to
offer help in a major tragedy (shooting, bombing, etc.) in a school.
Participants get free travel and lodging at the hotel, and the training is free.
Up to ten school psychologists from each country can take part, and the 28 participants must come from at least 3 countries.
If you and any colleague else from your country whom you might want to invite want to participate, please write to Bernhard Meissner. As soon as he sees how many colleagues are willing to come he will send a preliminary note of acceptance with which you can apply for the money for your trip at your national agency.
Please make this opportunity known to colleagues in your country.
It is necessary to make plans as soon as possible so that there will be enough money left at your national agency for you to come. The sooner you can apply after having got a preliminary receipt for registering, the easier it will be to get permission in your country. It would be good if you could come in the name of an institution: a school, a school psychological service, a university, or a national school psychology association.
Some additional explanations concerning
the history of these trainings:
In 1999 the International Crisis Response Network (ICRN) was founded by school
psychologists within the International School Psychology Association (ISPA) by
Joel Straussner and Bernhard Meissner; since 2000 the committee has been chaired
by Nevin Dölek and Shane Jimerson. Within the scientific program of the annual
international colloquia of ISPA this topic has always played a dominant role. In
2002 Bernhard Meissner and his colleagues presented their experiences in working
in the aftermath of the school shooting.
During a meeting in Nyborg of European school psychologists chaired by Helen
Bakker, the participants agreed on organizing a meeting in which this theme
would be dealt with intensively. Through his close contacts with his national
agency for Comenius projects, Bernhard Meissner was able to get permission to
organize two training courses for crisis intervention for school psychologists
and to receive funds from the EU.
Program schedule:
Saturday: Arrival.
Sunday: Introduction / Sharing experiences of participants (Bernhard
Meissner).
Work in teams
(Arthur Englbrecht).
Monday: Coping strategies for stress (BASIC- PH)
(Yehuda
Shachem).
Starting intervention/Circles of
vulnerability and support.
(Shulamit
Niv)
.
Tuesday: Group Crisis Intervention GCI - the NOVA-model (Prof. Bill Pfohl at Trento – Dr. Scott Poland, author of “Coping with Crisis,” at Nyborg).
Wednesday: GCI continued.
Thursday: Long term plans: School development after crisis/Crisis intervention in schools in Europe (Meissner). Feedback on the outcome of the course (Arthur Englbrecht).
Forthcoming Seminars for European School Psychologists:
Crisis Management in Schools
A seminar is planned for Athens, Greece, from 17 –22 July, 2005. It will overlap with the International School Psychology Colloquium. The advantage for participants would be that they can arrive for the Colloquium on July 13th and pay for that on their own, but have travel and the last two nights in a hotel (16th and 17th) paid for by the EU for participating in the crisis management seminar. For further details contact Bernhard Meissner.
Possibility one: If you work as a school psychologist in a country of the EU or in one that will become a member soon, you can still try to get funded for the seminar. Colleagues from Germany cannot apply for that seminar anymore because the number from one country is restricted to ten, and there are ten already. For others it may be difficult to to get funds because either the deadline of the national agency is exceeded or they have no money left.
Possibility two: If you can afford to pay for the hotel (€ 540) and travel on your own, you could participate by paying a very low seminar fee of € 160.
NOTE: Colleagues from the countries where the seminar takes place cannot be funded by the EU.
Report from the seminar held in Trento, Italy, September 20 – 26, 2003
Report
from the seminar held in Nyborg, Denmark, April 17 - 23, 2004
National Agencies for Comenius Projects