5 July 2024
The UNODC Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Section (PTRS) has developed a Basic Counselling Skills e-learning course for all interested in learning basic psychosocial skills. This e-learning course also benefits health and social practitioners working with people who have substance use and other mental health conditions or those in psychological distress, such as in humanitarian crises. This course is currently available in English, Dari, Pashto and Russian.
Online trainings have been an effective way to sensitize and educate policy makers, practitioners and the general public, based on lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. By now remote and/or online interventions for people with drug use disorders have shown to be feasible. Digitalization and innovation are in line with the Secretary-General’s Strategies on New Technologies and on Data, as highlighted at the launch of the UN Innovation Toolkit, “Be bold, be revolutionary … and disrupt … because without innovation, there is no way we can overcome the challenges of our times”.
Based on the UNODC Treatnet Training Package, the 60-minute self-paced online course helps practitioners to apply counselling techniques, structure counselling sessions, understand the importance of clinical supervision, and use listening, responding, and teaching strategies in their daily work.
The UNODC Basic Counselling Skills e-learning course does not necessarily require any prior knowledge on counselling. Therefore, practitioners without any formal training in low resource settings or community volunteers who are in contact with people in psychological distress may take this e-learning course.
Since its launch in April 2024, over 160 participants from 25 countries have completed the UNODC Basic Counselling Skills e-learning course.
The UNODC Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Section strives to continue developing training and technical guidance tools to effectively sensitize the general public and support professionals working with people who suffer from substance use conditions, with a view to ultimately enhancing the quality and availability of evidence-based interventions offered to individuals in need of care.
All interested are encouraged to complete and disseminate the UNODC Basic Counselling Skills e-learning course, which is made available on the UNODC Global e-Learning page.
For more information on UNODC Basic Counselling Skills e-learning course, please contact
Links:
To know more about the Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Section, click here.
To access the UNODC Treatnet Training Package, click here.