On Sunday, January 12, 2025, Press House - Palestine implemented psychological and social support sessions for the third and final group of Palestinian female journalists, as part of the “Journalists Camp” project funded by the Canadian government.
The four-day sessions, presented by the psychological and social specialist, Iyad Al-Diraoui, aimed to provide a safe, respectful and confidential environment for the exchange of experiences and feelings, and to provide immediate support and psychological first aid to the participants with the aim of reducing stress and severe sadness and strengthening the psychological structure in order to confront the effects of emotional, cognitive, behavioral and physical psychological trauma.
The sessions also aimed to enable participants to use coping strategies to deal with their experiences, highlight recovery stories, and provide referral services for cases requiring in-depth psychological interventions to institutions that provide case management services.
The specialist Al-Diraoui also presented concepts, means and recreational activities that support and are useful for alleviating the effects of the traumatic event and getting out of it, and a guided deep breathing exercise to help the participants focus and reduce anxiety, as well as imagination and meditation activities to reduce stress.
The sessions also focused on the forms and types of gender-based violence, and guidelines for intensive care for survivors of gender-based violence.
A number of participants in the psychological and social support sessions expressed their hope that more of these sessions would be offered, especially in light of the painful and shocking psychological and social effects they are experiencing in Gaza Strip.
