2006
start of the project
3
partner universities: Addis Ababa, Jimma, Bahir Dar
250+
participants completed the basic course
40+
certified positive psychotherapists
“Those who have completed their training are training themselves.”
The International Academy for Positive and Transcultural Psychotherapy – Prof. Peseschkian Foundation has run a mental health project in Ethiopia since 2006. Personal contact with the country’s leading psychiatrists and university lecturers made cooperation possible with Addis Ababa University, Jimma University and Bahir Dar University. The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education in Addis Ababa are fully informed about the project.
In basic and master courses in positive and transcultural psychotherapy, Ethiopian health professionals learn – for a symbolic fee – a resource-oriented, short-term therapeutic procedure that lets them treat patients effectively.
Training the trainers
Ethiopian specialists go on to become international trainers of PPT, so they can train their compatriots independently. Afterwards they can join the World Association of Positive and Transcultural Psychotherapy (WAPP) and become part of the international network of positive psychotherapists – ensuring professional exchange and long-term quality.
A representative of the foundation in Ethiopia has volunteered for the project from the start and makes sure the courses run successfully on site. Many international lecturers teach their Ethiopian colleagues pro bono in block seminars.
In thirteen years, more than 250 participants completed the basic course and over 40 master-course graduates became “Certified Positive Psychotherapists”.
Why positive psychotherapy fits
The method is particularly suited to countries shaped by both poverty and change. It reaches people regardless of their level of education or belief. Stories and proverbs suit narrative cultures and reach people on an emotional level, and the humanistic worldview behind the method has a positive effect on civil society beyond therapy itself.
Young professionals in particular benefit from the qualification, which gives them an incentive to stay in the country and helps prevent brain drain.
What makes it work
- Based on a scientifically recognised method of psychotherapy, with quality assurance
- Cooperation with the World Association for Positive and Transcultural Psychotherapy, so participants join an international network
- Grants for Ethiopian participants to attend congresses on positive and transcultural psychotherapy
- Three books on positive psychotherapy published in Ethiopia in English and Amharic at the foundation’s expense
Help for a partly traumatised population
By training Ethiopian colleagues in Addis Ababa, Jimma and Bahir Dar together with its university partners, the foundation helps ease the shortage of trained psychotherapists in Ethiopia, so that people who need help can get it. Promoting sustainable development, especially in health, is an important building block in tackling the causes of flight and terror.
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