Faith practices   This study shows that faith practices were measurably associated with changes in distress and relief levels.   Religiosity  High levels of religiosity was related to both higher and lower feelings of distress in a significant way, evidencing that for many populations of faith around the world, processing traumatic events is linked to religious conviction.  […]

Cultural adaptation   This report details the findings of dialogue sessions on the topic of MHPSS and the Syrian context with key persons amongst the Syrian MHPSS community in charge of implementing MHPSS programmes on the ground, with a view of identifying their views on the subject of cultural adaptation of MHPSS approaches.   New concept     The

Cultural adaptation in the Syrian context  This policy/practice paper focuses on developing culturally adapted MHPSS interventions for Syrian communities affected by the ongoing conflict and displacement, in order to better understand the impact of cultural adaptation on people’s mental health and psychosocial wellbeing.   Desire and resistance   This paper highlights the desire by many practitioners to

Beyond the individual The authors argue that local faith actors actions on mental distress go far beyond an individual dimension and are often tied to social fabrics and unbalanced social relations. They argue that humanitarianism’s engagement with local faith actors frequently overlooks essential aspects of their social role in the communities where they exist and

Religious buffer effect   This article identifies religious practices and gatherings, such as prayer, music and art, as coping strategies for Rohingya refugees residing in Bangladesh. They can produce a buffer effect to the exposure of violence.   Religious identity  In Myanmar, the Rohingya faced restrictions that prohibited them from maintaining their cultural and religious identity.

Shukyosei This article highlights how the Great East Japan Earthquake shook the foundations of Japanese people’s views on life and death, leading to more attention to the role of religiosity or shukyosei and mental health care practices.   Relief activities and spiritual care  One of the notable features of the relief activities after the Great

More than a place of worship   The mosque was far more than a religious place of worship for the communities in this study: it was a spiritual defence, part of their survival strategy to safeguard them against losses from natural hazards.  Psychosocial healing  The authors of this article  make the case that Imams and

Religious protective agents  The results of this study identify religious agents that contributed to promoting adolescent refugees’ psychosocial well-being. For example, church staff and congregants were protective agents, providing spiritual guidance, material support, after- school and social activities, and as caseworkers for adolescents experiencing trouble in school or at home.   Religious protective resources   Faith

Spirituality in China   This article presents some of the differences between how spirituality is conceived of in the East and the West. It explores how, in the context of China, different spiritualities are without doubt deeply rooted in social and community experience, and these societies and communities are permeated with the influence of a

The Fragility of Existence  In both contexts drawn upon in this article, the fragility of existence played a large role in the lives of survivors. Although the twin disasters occurred in different years, on different continents, and in different cultures, the authors argue that the human experience of trauma was no different.  Commonalities in the