Counselling in areas of armed conflict: the case of Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Abstract

In this article counselling is discussed in relation to the traditional resources of the Tamil community for dealing with psycho-social and mental health problems. It describes some of the problems of clients affected by the armed conflict, the approaches of the local counsellors and mental health professionals, and the training offered to future Sri Lankan counsellors who want to work with people affected by the armed conflict on the island.

Notes

¹A militant organisation striving for independence of North and East Sri Lanka.

²The need for counselling was confirmed by research at the outpatient departments of two local hospitals in 1991, when it was found that more than 80% of the patients had identifiable psycho-social problems (Somasundaram, 2001).