Mental Health

Psychological Resources for Children and Families

• Caring for Each Other (Sesame Street)- offers resources for parents to help manage children's anxiety and encourage playful learning

• Disaster: Helping Children Cope (AACAP)- provides tips for caregivers on supporting children’s behavioral and emotional responses after a disaster

• Let’s Learn Without Borders (UIED)- educational and psychological support for families impacted by conflict

• My Imagine Journals (The Imagine Project)- journals with prompts to help children and adults process stress and trauma imaginatively

• Hero2B- engages children with tools to overcome challenges for health development

• Child Mental Health Interventions- practical guidelines and suggestions from 16 child mental health global intervention programs 

Psychological Support Organizations

• Amna- provides trauma-informed psychosocial support globally, focusing on community-based interventions

• Support for Refugees (Refugee Trauma Initiative)- outlines mental health support initiatives and training programs for self-care of frontline staff working with refugees

• Sehat Initiative- program of the Public Health Institute (PHI) based in Sacramento California with a focus on addressing refugee mental health for Afghan and Ukraine youth

• Fair Start Foundation- provides education for mental health workers in a 6 month, online, train-the-trainer model for organizational staff, in multiple languages, to support caregivers attachment-based care skills and learning support for over 70 thousand children worldwide 

Discussions About Crisis and War

• How to Talk to Children About What’s Happening (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)- guides to facilitate discussion with children about complex global events (e.g. war)

• Mental Health Effects of a War Zone on Children (ABC News)- insight into the psychological impacts of war on children, emphasizing the need for adult support

• Mental Health of Children Living in War Zones (Catani)- analyzes risks and protective factors in parenting within war-affected environments

Research and Reports on Child Mental Health

• The Intergenerational Impact of War on Mental Health and Psychosocial Wellbeing
  (Betancourt et. al.)- longitudinal study on the effects of war on youth in Sierra Leone, highlighting intergenerational trauma

• Impact of War and Forced Displacement on Children’s Mental Health (Bürgin et al.)- discusses trauma-informed care for children in war zones, advocating for multilevel interventions

• Preschool Children Facing Mass Trauma (Wolmer, et. al.)- journal of Mental Health and Clinical Psychology) Reviews effects of mass trauma on preschoolers, suggesting targeted interventions

• Strengthening Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (UNHCR)- integrates mental health support into refugee and humanitarian aid programs

• Living Through War: Mental Health of Children and Youth in Conflict-affected Areas (Frounfelker et. al.)- details psychosocial interventions to address mental health issues among youth affected by conflict

• Improving the Mental Health of Children in Conflict Affected and Low-resource Settings (Jordans)- advocates a public health approach to child mental health in conflict settings