Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery Certificate Program

The Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma

The Harvard Medical School Department of Continuing Education

present:

The Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery Certificate Training Program, GMH, is in its 19th year. GMH was implemented in November 2006 by a call for training capacity in mental health by the World’s Ministers of Health (n=35) meeting in Rome in December 2004. The main objective of the GMH Program is to provide state-of-the-art cultural and evidence-based knowledge and skills to health and mental health professionals, humanitarian relief workers, and policy planners caring for traumatized patients, families, and communities worldwide. Advances in the neurosciences, psychosocial interventions, and community development will be offered. A major focus of the course is on the transfer of knowledge in trauma informed care of survivors, an in-depth study of the neuroscience of trauma, and leadership development of course participants. Course participants receive an online version of the textbook: Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery: A Companion Guide for Field and Clinical Care of Traumatized People Worldwide and a Culture/Evidence Based 11 Point Clinical Toolkit. Special highlighted topics include human rights, trauma informed care, racial trauma, the long-term impact of COVID-19, self-care for health care workers, climate change and ecocide. The combination of lectures, questions and answers with faculty allows for in-depth sharing of knowledge and expertise of faculty and participants. This program uses a lecture and discussion format for all the subjects included in the course. Additionally, there will be an opportunity for participants to network with one another and with the faculty.

Program Overview

The Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (HPRT) and the Harvard Medical School are offering an extraordinary one-week online certificate program, Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery (GMH). The program provides training for health care practitioners, humanitarian relief workers and policy planners addressing the health and mental health sequelae of traumatized patients and communities. The curriculum is adaptable for diverse populations and global environments affected by violence, natural disasters, and climate change.

The Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery Certificate Program is the first of its kind in global mental health, trauma, and post-conflict/disaster recovery. The major rationale for this Certificate Program emerged from 40+ years of clinical care, training, and research by the faculty with survivors of violence and natural disasters throughout the world.

In collaboration with Caritas Rome, Fulbright New Century Scholars Program and the World Bank, HPRT and the Italian Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) developed the global Project 1 Billion: International Congress of Ministers of Health for Mental Health and Post-Conflict Recovery. In December 2004, this project brought together Ministers of Health from the world's post-conflict countries to endorse a science-based, culturally effective and sustainable Mental Health Action Plan and Book of Best Practices for post-conflict recovery. Project 1 Billion revealed the great need for the education and capacity building of health care professionals, international relief workers and policy makers in the area of mental health. This Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery Certificate Program is a major result of Project 1 Billion.

Upon successful completion of the GMH program, participants receive a certificate of completion from the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma and a certificate of participation with continuing medical education credits from Harvard Medical School.

Mission and Learning Objectives

More than one billion people have been affected by violence and disasters throughout the world. Our mission is to maximize a scientific and cultural approach and methodology to reduce suffering, minimize disabilities, and increase resiliency for survivors of violence worldwide. This Program offers a transformative training experience to create a network of global leaders in mental health recovery.

Upon completion of the certificate program, participants will be able to:

• Use science, culture, and evidence-based knowledge and practices in policy planning, clinical care, humanitarian, and human rights activities.
• Implement and apply advances in neurosciences and cultural knowledge in the clinical care of traumatized persons, their families, and communities.
• Offer effective scientific approaches for the care of survivors of the long-term impact of COVID-19 pandemic, racial trauma, climate change, ecocide, and long-term Covid.
• Demonstrate new leadership skills in clinical care, program development, and research.
• Learn the important historical scientific and evaluation approaches to the care of survivors of trauma.
• Apply professional development, self-care and ethics in working with vulnerable groups and communities.
• Learn how to create a healing environment.

Learning Approach

The program participants will receive an e-copy of the textbook Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery: A Companion Guide for Field and Clinical Care of Traumatized People Worldwide. Lectures to be presented by globally recognized leaders in their respective fields and will follow the eight dimensions of the Global Mental Health Action Plan. Participants will also receive the HPRT 11 Point Clinical Toolkit for Healing Wounds of Mass Violence and Disasters.

Course Format

Lectures will be videoed and archived for access at a later time. Instructions for access will be provided after registration.

Topics

The program’s emphasis is on learning an integrated holistic approach to policy planning and clinical care using the HPRT Global Mental Health Action Plan.

Topics include:

• Phenomenological theory of trauma and recovery developed by HPRT and international colleagues over 40 years.
• Epidemiology and the neuroscience of trauma.
• The HPRT Global Mental Health Action Plan.
• Trauma-informed Care. 
• Mental Health Diagnosis and Treatment of Mental Health and Medical Disorders.
• Scientific (Evidence-Based) and Culturally Valid Best Clinical Practices.
• The new H5 Model for field based psychosocial and clinical approach to recovery.
• Health and mental health impact of racial trauma, health disparities, and Covid-19. 
• Human Rights and Rebuilding Social Capital.
• Working in Interdisciplinary Medical Teams.
• Scientific and culture-based approach to leadership.
• Climate change and ecocide.

Faculty

 Richard F. Mollica, MD, MAR, is a psychiatrist and world-renowned pioneer of refugee mental health and medicine. Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School (HMS), Director, Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (HPRT), and Director of the Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery Course (HMS). He is the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award at HMS 2022 on Equity, Social Justice, and Advocacy, and the winner of the Yale Divinity School (YDS) Lux et Veritas Award for excellence in caring for the world’s neediest communities with deep compassion and spirituality.

 Sanjiv Chopra, MD, MBBS, MACP, is a Professor of Medicine and former Faculty Dean for Continuing Medical Education at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Chopra is a leading motivational speaker and best-selling author giving lectures and trainings on leadership and healthy lifestyles. His book Leadership by Example: The Ten Key Principles of All Great Leaders is highly praised and has been a basis of his world-wide lectures on leadership. 

 Massimo Ammaniti, MD, is a Child Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst; Honorary Professor of Developmental Psychopathology and Former Chairman of the Faculty of Infant and Adolescent Clinical Psychology at University of Rome La Sapienza. Dr. Ammaniti is an expert in the role of empathy in therapeutic relationships and the importance of mirror neurons. A leading figure in Italian social psychiatry associated with the Italian Psychiatric reform movement under Professor Franco Basaglia (Public Law No. 180).

 Eugene F. Augusterfer, LCSW, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Deputy Director and Director of Telemedicine for the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (HPRT) at Massachusetts General Hospital; Co- Founder, World Bank Mental Health, and Psychosocial Working Group; Former Lecturer, Georgetown University Graduate School of Public Health, and the World Economic Forum’s Wellness Initiative. He is an internationally recognized expert in telemedicine and in the treatment of trauma in Forcibly Displaced Populations. He has published numerous peer reviewed papers on the use of telemedicine to reach underserved and marginalized global populations and he co-authored the book Telemental Health in Resource-Limited Global Settings, Oxford University Press, 2017. He is a peer reviewer for numerous peer-reviewed journals, including Academic Psychiatry, Oxford University Press, and others. He has done on-site field work in numerous disaster settings, including Haiti, Lebanon, Japan, New Orleans, post Hurricane Katrina, and Washington, DC, post the 911 terrorists attacks. He currently supports a major program in Ukraine focused on internally displaced women and children. He also served as a U.S. Air Force Mental Health Officer where he helped in the development of an Air Force wide Integrated Care Program of primary medical care and mental health care.

 Omar Bah, PsyD MPH, is a psychologist and Founder and Executive Director: The Refugee Dream Center, Inc., Rhode Island, Author of the book “Africa’s Hell on Earth: The Ordeal of an African Journalist.” Dr. Bah is an expert in refugee leadership.

 Sondra Crosby, MD, is a Medical Doctor and Professor of Medicine and Public Health, Boston University Schools of Medicine specializing in the primary health care of refugees and survivors of torture. She is a pioneer in the medical field of human rights, most notably serving as the Director of the Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights. She is a consultant on torture for Physicians for Human Rights. She was a contributor to the Istanbul Protocol, the International Standard for the Medical and Legal Documentation of Torture.

 Sadie Elisseou, MD, is a practicing physician in the Veterans Administration healthcare system, an instructor at Harvard Medical School and Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Elisseou is an internationally recognized expert in Trauma Informed Care and the trauma-informed medical examination.

 Gregory L. Fricchione, MD, is a psychiatrist and Associate Chief, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. Director of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Fricchione is a renowned neuroscientist who is an expert on stress, resiliency, and trauma’s impact on the brain and behavior.

 Heidi Kerko, JD, is a valued lecturer and group leader at HPRT since 2007. Director of RJRI which funds research related to transitional justice mechanisms, localized indigenous justice practices, international courts, and commissions in order to understand how the pursuit of justice affects a survivor’s mental health and their community.

 Maria Leister, JD, is the Chief Operations Officer at Pocket Project, and specializes in law, forced displacement, and human rights. A Fellow at the Harvard University Office of the President, Maria previously served as the Administrative Director of the Harvard Law School's Harvard Defenders Program. She holds a Juris Doctorate from Indiana University and an MSc in Bioethics from Harvard Medical School. Maria's career reflects her dedication to advancing justice and advocating for vulnerable populations.

 Jutta Lindert, PhD, MPH, MA, is a Professor of Public Health, University of Applied Sciences Emden/Leer, Emden, Germany; WRSC Brandeis University, USA. Dr. Lindert is the President of the Working Group on Public Mental Health of the World Federation of Public Health, and Co-chair of the Section on Public Mental Health of the European Association of Public Health. Her special interests include genocide, war and its long-term effects on mental health, the intergenerational impact of traumatic life events, gender-based violence and its impact on mental health conditions, art and culture interventions for mental health conditions, and exposome and mental health conditions.

 Joe Mageary, PhD, LMHC, CCMHC, is an Associate Professor and Department Chair in Lesley University’s Department of Counseling and Psychology. His areas of scholarly interest include arts based, narrative therapy, and experiential approaches to processing trauma in individuals and communities. An HPRT GMH alum, his current projects include work with Voices: Arts and Healing to support aid workers who are caring for asylum seekers in Juarez, Mexico, as well as consultation with the Lesley Institute for Trauma Sensitivity on creative approaches for supporting Ukrainian educators and child psychologists, tending to the needs of children in a context of war.

 Laura McDonald, PhD, MALD, is a senior member of the Operations and Evaluations, Education Global Practice, World Bank. Co- Founder, World Bank Mental Health and Psychosocial Working Group. Laura is an expert on mental health in international development and education within developing countries and has extensive experience in Bosnia, Liberia, Congo, and Nigeria.

 Giovanni Muscettola, MD, is an Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry. University “Federico II” Napoli, Italia. Academic career since 1971 in the Universities of Bari, Napoli, Udine, Trieste and Napoli. Full Professor of Psychiatry from 1989, Chairman Department of Psychiatry, University of Napoli from 1996 to 2013. Research Assistant in Psychopharmacology, Mario Negri Institute of Pharmacological Research, Milano, Italy from 1968 to 1970. Visiting Scientist at Psychiatry Branch and Psychobiology Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA from 1974 to 1977 and from 1986 to1987. Scientific and training programs with Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MASS, USA since 1989, Siem Reap Cambodia, Opatija Croatia, Sarajevo Bosnia Erzegovina, Orvieto, Italia. Fields of Interest: Preclinical and Clinical Psychopharmacology, Psychopathology of Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia.

 Raewyn Mutch , MD, MBChB (Otago), DipRACOG, FRACP, PhD (UWA), is a Special Consultant Pediatrician, Refugee Health and General Pediatrics, Perth Children's Hospital, Perth, Western Australia; Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics and Refugee Health Service, Perth, Children’s Hospital Western Australia. Dr. Mutch is an expert on the impact of structural racism and colonization on the health and mental health of indigenous children.

 Giampaolo Nicolais, PhD, is a Professor of Child Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. Director of the School of specialization in Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. Head of the Clinical Psychology Unit, Sant'Andrea University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. President of AISMI - Italian Association for Infant Mental Health.

 Barbara Peyser, PsyD, is a Clinical Psychologist and Psychoanalyst who is a valued lecturer and group leader with HPRT. She was a Supervising Psychologist at the NYS psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents from 1999-2014. As an alumnus of the HPRT GMH Course (2013), she has co-led Balint Groups with Dr. Mollica. She is currently exploring Somatic Trauma Therapy and how to offer it as an adjunct to talk therapy. She also maintains a private practice in Tenafly, New Jersey. 

 Susan Rees, PhD, MSoc.Pol, BCW, is a Professor in Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, at the University of New South Wales, Australia. Her research focus is the mental health of conflict-affected populations, social justice, gender-based violence, and collaborating on mental health projects led by First Nations Aboriginal Communities. She is currently developing a You-Tube channel on bird migration, mental health, and ecocide with Dr. Richard Mollica. 

 Nisha Sajnani, PhD, RDT-BCT, is the Director of the Program in Drama Therapy, the Theater & Health Lab, and Chair of the Creative Arts Therapies Consortium at New York University. Dr. Sajnani’s body of work explores the unique ways in which aesthetic experience can inspire equity, care, and collective human flourishing across the lifespan. As Director of the Arts and Health Lab, Dr. Sajnani established a collaboration with the World Health Organization, and she leads a Lancet Global Series on the health benefits of the arts. 

 Taiwo Lateef Sheikh, MBBS, MSc, FWACP, is a Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, College of Medical Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. Leading West-African Neuropsychiatrist engaged in suicide prevention and the integration of mental health into primary healthcare in Nigeria. He has served and lead many mental health policy working groups in Nigeria and West-Africa

 Theoni Stathopoulou, PhD, is a sociologist, Research Director at the National Centre for Social Research (EKKE), in Athens, Greece. She has long-standing expertise in large-scale survey research (European Social Survey, World Values Survey) and she was the National Coordinator for Round 10 of the European Social Survey in Greece. She has led and participated in various projects on migration funded by the European Commission and the European Economic Area. Theoni has held a position at the Hellenic Statistical Advisory Board of the Hellenic Statistical Authority representing the European Statistical Advisory Committee (ESAC-EUROSTAT). She has also served on the Sectorial Scientific Council for Social Sciences at the National Council for Research and Innovation, the supreme advisory body on the formulation and implementation of the national policy on research in Greece, and the Hellenic Foundation of Research and Innovation. She has co-edited two special issues on migration and health, as well as the refugee crisis in Europe, published by Oxford University Press. Additionally, she has recently been awarded a grant to study the risk and protective factors associated with the educational experiences of children with a refugee background in Greece.

 Jillian M. Stile, PhD, is a Clinical Psychologist and Psychoanalyst. She serves as Senior Advisor to the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, Global Mental Health. She is Instructor of Clinical Psychology in the Psychiatry Department of Columbia University Medical Center. In addition to her clinical work, she has expertise in developing and implementing healing environments for highly traumatized populations. In 2024, she founded Sanite International, an NGO whose core purpose is to promote healing environments in Haiti and beyond through the work of community psychoanalysis. Dr. Stile is a member of the International Psychoanalytical Association. She has authored articles on the topics of psychoanalysis, culture and identity and presents internationally. She maintains a private practice in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and New York City.

 Frederick (Jerry) Streets, MDiv, MSW, DSW, LICSW, is Professor of Divinity and Social Work at Yale University Divinity School and a licensed clinical social worker. He has been a long-time member of the HPRT faculty. He is the former Chaplain of Yale University and the first African American to serve in this role. He is a recipient of numerous awards including the Lux Veritas Award, the highest alumni honor given by Yale Divinity School. He has a distinguished career in Pastoral Theology and clinical social work. His book, Are You Being? on clergy well-being will be published later this year by Cascade Publishers.

Accreditation

In support of improving patient care, Harvard Medical School is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team. 

Physicians

The Harvard Medical School designates this Live for a maximum of 40.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.  

Nurse Practitioners and Registered Nurses

For the purpose of recertification, the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board and American Nurses Credentialing Center accept AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ issued by organizations accredited by the ACCME (Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education). We would also suggest that learners check with their state licensing board to ensure they accept reciprocity with AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ for re-licensure.

Physician Assistants

The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) states that AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ are acceptable for continuing medical education requirements for recertification. We would also suggest that learners check with their state licensing board to ensure they accept reciprocity with AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ for re-licensure. 

Canadian Accreditation

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada recognizes conferences and workshops held outside of Canada that are developed by a university, academy, hospital, specialty society or college as accredited group learning activities.

European Accreditation

The American Medical Association (AMA) has an agreement of mutual recognition of continuing medical education (CME) credit with the European Union of Medical Specialties (UEMS). Additional information regarding this agreement may be found here:
https://www.uems.eu/areas-of-expertise/cme-cpd/eaccme

ABMS/ACGME Competencies

This course is designed to meet the following American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS)/Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competencies: 

• Systems-Based Practice
• Interpersonal and Communication Skills
• Patient Care and Procedural Skills
• Medical Knowledge
• Practice-Based Learning and Improvement
• Professionalism

IOM Competencies

This course is designed to meet the following Institute of Medicine Competencies:  

• Work in Interdisciplinary Teams
• Employ Evidence-Based Practice
• Provide Patient-Centered Care

Disclosure Policy

In accordance with the disclosure policy of the Medical School as well as standards set forth by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), course planners, speakers, and content reviewers have been asked to disclose any relationships they have to companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. In addition, faculty have been asked to list any off-label uses of pharmaceuticals and/or devices for investigational or non-FDA approved purposes that they plan to discuss.

Disclaimer

CME activities accredited by Harvard Medical School are offered solely for educational purposes and do not constitute any form of certification of competency. Practitioners should always consult additional sources of information and exercise their best professional judgment before making clinical decisions of any kind.  

Note: AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ is calculated based on submission of a preliminary agenda and may be subject to change. 

Who should apply?

Health care workers including doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers and other public health professionals; policy planners, lawyers, human rights workers, educators, and journalists working with populations that are survivors of violence and/or disasters.

Admissions criteria

Several criteria will be used to assess eligibility for the Certificate Program, including:

• A prior graduate level degree and experience in the health-related sector, including humanitarian workers.
• Field workers without a graduate degree with equivalent field experience can apply.
• Interest and career aspirations in caring for traumatized populations.
• Access to computer and internet.
• Written, spoken, and reading proficiency in English.

Program Director: Professor Richard F. Mollica, MD MAR

 For more information please contact us by email at:  hprt.gmh@gmail.com