PSY1103V – Mental Health and Psychosocial Support

The Certificate of Open Studies in Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (COS MHPSS) equips refugee learners in displacement and conflict-affected settings with the knowledge and practical skills to provide evidence-informed psychosocial support at the individual, family, and community levels. The certificate is grounded in the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings, the WHO EQUIP competency framework, and Mental Health First Aid principles. It is delivered as a bilingual certificate combining local-language instruction and skills practice with English-language academic framing and final assessment.

Students examine who needs what kind of help through a human rights and MHPSS lens, exploring cultural understandings of mental ill-health, referral pathways, and solution-focused conversation skills. You will study Mental Health First Aid for individuals and families, including recognition of acute distress, self-care, and the prevention of secondary traumatization. Family-level content covers parenting under stress, caregiver support, and the developmental needs of children and adolescents in displacement. At the community level, students engage with social identity, intergroup conflict and mediation, and the design and facilitation of collective psychosocial activities and structured support programs. You will learn the fundamental principles governing group based MHPSS work, including informed consent, confidentiality, voluntary participation, psychological safety, inclusive facilitation, and do-no-harm. The course concludes with an examination of how structural, political, and environmental conditions shape mental health across displacement trajectories, and an introduction to community-based participatory research, culminating in a small-scale community inquiry conducted and presented by students.

Knowledge

After completeing the course, you will be able to:

• Explain the IASC MHPSS intervention pyramid and situate community-level psychosocial support within the broader continuum of care from basic services to specialized mental health treatment
• Describe common stressors in displacement and conflict contexts and explain normal bodily and psychological responses to acute and chronic stress
• Explain the fundamental ethical and practical principles for facilitating group based psychosocial activities in humanitarian settings, including informed consent, confidentiality within groups, voluntary participation, psychological safety, inclusive facilitation, and do-no-harm
• Account for cultural variation in understandings of mental ill-health and help seeking behaviour, and explain how a human rights perspective shapes MHPSS practice
• Identify risk factors and responses relevant to children and adolescents in displacement and describe protective family and attachment dynamics
• Explain how individuals and communities in displacement settings build resilience and maintain a sense of agency, hope, and belonging, and identify the cultural, social, and creative resources that support recovery and coping under conditions of structural adversity
• Describe the principles of community-based participatory research and explain how it can be used to investigate stressors and coping resources in a community setting and to document intervention needs

Skills

After completing the course, you will know how to:

• Apply Mental Health Response to recognize and respond to individuals and families in acute or ongoing distress, and practice appropriate self-care to manage secondary traumatization
• Identify when someone needs specialist support and carry out safe, dignified referrals using local service pathways
• Use solution-focused conversation skills to support peers and community members in identifying their own coping strategies and next steps
• Design, facilitate, and document group activities for adults, families, and community groups in humanitarian settings
• Apply mediation and de-escalation principles in response to interpersonal or intergroup conflict in displacement settings
• Apply basic data collection and analysis skills
• Adapt psychosocial activities and communication to the linguistic, cultural, and literacy context of the target group
• Critically reflect on your own role, boundaries of competence, and cultural assumptions in MHPSS practice

General competence

In terms of general competence, you can:

• Work ethically and in accordance with a do-no-harm orientation across all levels of MHPSS practice, from individual conversations to community programs
• Recognize and affirm the value of local cultural knowledge, healing traditions, and community practices as legitimate resources in MHPSS work, and integrate these with evidence-based approaches
• Collaborate effectively with NGOs, community organizations, and health and protection services in interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral teams
• Communicate MHPSS knowledge and findings in plain language to community members, caregivers, and organizational partners
• Use participatory research skills to contribute to ongoing assessment of community needs and the quality of psychosocial support activities
• Support and advocate for the mental health and dignity of displaced and conflict affected populations, including the most marginalized
• Demonstrate awareness of your own positionality, including the limits of your training, when engaging with individuals and communities affected by displacement.

Admission to the course is reserved for learners in displacement contexts. Recruitment of learners in the respective settings, such as refugee camps in the Global South, is coordinated by the local implementing partner.

Learners applying to the COS MHPSS must have a completed secondary education (videregående skole/ upper secondary leaving certificate or equivalent).

To standardize admissions, applicants are required to submit a short motivational statement outlining their interest in MHPSS, their prior experience and training, and their community engagement. They will submit their CV in a standardized format along with their highschool certificate and any additional- relevant certificates.

The certificate is specifically designed for learners in displacement contexts and does not require prior academic knowledge of psychology or mental health. Admission decisions are made by an admissions committee that considers applicants' motivation, language level, community engagement, and potential to contribute to MHPSS services in their setting.

Language requirements

Learners must have functional literacy in the local language of the course sufficient for completing in-program quizzes, practical exercises, and skills submissions. The final examination is in English; learners are therefore expected to have sufficient reading comprehension and writing skills in English to engage with the examination text and to submit their responses in English.

The course uses a hybrid pedagogy combining synchronous online instruction from UiO with self-directed study and face-to-face practice sessions at Connected Learning Hubs.

A typical week of instruction includes a live online lecture or Q&A session delivered by faculty (90 minutes), structured self-study using subtitled videos and local-language materials (approximately 4 hours), and face-to-face practice sessions facilitated by trained peer tutors at learning hubs (approximately 2 hours). Learners participate in weekly peer exercises (ca. 90 minutes). The field workshop in week 13 is a 20-hour intensive mini-internship with external NGO coaches.

Compulsory activities

Attendance and participation in face-to-face hub sessions must be at least 80%. Completion of the supervised fieldwork portfolio is mandatory for progression through each level.