Ipso

 
 
 
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Inge Missmahl 

Founded by Ashoka Fellow Inge Missmahl 

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The Problem

Flight migrants often arrive in a new country after significant trauma. The extensive asylum procedures and practical and cultural difficulties in their new homes lead to re-traumatisation and stress.  

The Solution

IPSO provides refugees with psychological and social counselling. Through a new methodology, which places high value on individual context and cultural background, IPSO provides support on a personal level without expected assimilation or adaptation from the migrant. The available e-care provides online video face-t0-face counselling for people in transit and those embarrassed or uncomfortable to seek help in person. Additionally, the programme has been training refugees themselves to become peer counsellors, providing immediate recognition and support to those with similar experiences, language and culture.  

The Impact

IPSO was originally developed in Afghanistan in 2008, where it currently supports up to 50,000 people per year. Since then, it has been established in Haiti, Ukraine and Germany, where it provides psychological support to many people that suffer from trauma.