This week in Geneva, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees will convene its Annual Consultations with Non-Governmental Organizations. More than 240 national and international NGOs will be represented by over 460 participants to discuss issues, network, and exchange views with UNHCR.

We spoke to our colleagues with CVT Jordan about emergency mental health care. Leah James, CVT psychotherapist/trainer, and Simone van der Kaaden, Country Director-Jordan, discuss what it means to provide care in a situation where refugees face significant ongoing challenges and how they use “vicarious resilience” to counter a dark world view.

Can you describe what emergency mental health means?

Today’s post is in honor of National Children’s Mental Health Awareness day.

Annie Sovcik, Esq., CVT's Director of the Washington Office, writes on the need to expand mental health services for refugees and survivors of humanitarian emergencies worldwide. CVT is the co-founder of the Global Mental Health Advocacy Working Group.

The New York Times recently reported on migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border and the hardship to those seeking asylum in the United States caused by the backlog of cases pending before the immigration courts.

Paul Orieny, PhD, LMFT, international services clinical advisor, recently returned from northern Ethiopia. Last February, CVT Ethiopia began group counseling in Mai Ani and Adi Harush refugee camps. Below are Paul's observations.

Part II of our conversation with Steve Miles and Rosa Garcia-Peltoniemi about health care professionals’ involvement in torture, including a conversation about how terrorism is used to create fear and to rationalize torture. Read Part I here and 

The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations will hold a hearing today on "Syria After Geneva: Next Steps for U.S. Policy." CVT submitted written testimony to the committee with recommendations for Congress to pass the Syrian humanitarian resolution of 2014, to increase U.S. contributions to the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, and to provide funding for mental health and psychosocial support through the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department.