Psychosocial, Trauma, Group Health & Culture

1) Sovereign Core — Ontology, Rights, Culture

These resources define “what distress is,” “who has authority,” and “what counts as ethical care.” Everything else in this atlas is subordinate to this layer.

1.1 Distress as Power / Threat / Meaning

Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) — Overview & Full Framework

CORE

A diagnostic alternative: distress is mapped as patterns of response to power, threats, and meanings rather than “disorders.”

Primary function

Ontology + assessment lens for individuals, groups, communities

Key move

Shifts the question from “What’s wrong?” to “What happened / what did it mean / what is needed?”

Anti-capture value

Prevents re-pathologizing people to fit institutions; keeps context and power central.

Open Overview (PDF) Open Full Framework (PDF) Open Summary (PDF)

How this is used inside the atlas

As a permanent interpretive lens for humanitarian standards and clinical manuals.
As a group facilitation frame: power mapping, threat responses, meaning-making.
As a safeguard against “resilience training” that normalizes exploitation.

Promoting Community Mental Health — Hesperian (Digital Edition + Store Page)

CORE JUSTICE

Community mental health as collective power, solidarity, and practical mutual support—built for adaptation and local use.

Primary function

Community practice manual: groups, activities, crisis support, violence, grief, depression

Strength

Concrete, accessible, non-clinical language; designed for community leaders and organizers

Anti-capture value

Keeps care local and legible; encourages adaptation rather than professional gatekeeping.

Open Digital Edition Open PDF (Front Matter / 2025) Open Book Details

What makes this “core code”

Frames organizing and connection as mental health intervention.
Builds group scaffolds (support circles, mutual aid) without requiring clinics.
Explicitly addresses violence, poverty, stigma, and community accountability.

1.2 Rights & Anti-Coercion Spine

WHO Guidance on Community Mental Health Services (2021) — Rights-Based Blueprint

CORE INTERFACE

Official rights-based architecture (CRPD-aligned) that explicitly pushes systems away from coercion and institutionalization.

Primary function

Rights standard + design guidance for community mental health systems

Why it matters

A globally-recognized reference to defend peer-led and community-based models

Anti-capture value

Creates “official language” for resisting forced treatment and carceral models.

Open WHO Publication Page Open Full PDF Open WHO Case Portfolio

How it’s used here

As a minimum rights floor for any service- or program-like activity.
As a negotiation tool when interfacing with health systems, donors, and agencies.
As a cross-check against coercive “risk management” defaults.

WHO QualityRights — Training & Tools (incl. Tool Kit)

CORE INTERFACE

WHO’s rights-based training package and assessment tools for transforming services and preventing coercion.

Primary function

Anti-coercion training + facility/service rights auditing

Key asset

Gives structured language + tools to assess rights and quality in mental health services

Anti-capture value

Turns “human rights” into operational checklists, not vague values.

Open QualityRights Hub Open QualityRights Tool Kit Open Humanitarian Edition (PDF)

Where it plugs into the atlas

Training peer workers/volunteers in rights-based practice and consent.
Auditing any “service” so it doesn’t drift into coercion or surveillance.
Hardening safeguards when interfacing with hospitals or formal providers.

1.3 Decolonial & Somatic Trauma

Decolonizing Trauma Work — Renee Linklater

CORE JUSTICE

Indigenous-centered trauma framework: healing as community, land, story, and historical truth—explicit critique of Western clinical capture.

Primary function

Ontological counterweight: trauma as collective and historical, not only individual pathology

Best use

Designing culturally grounded group work and community healing containers

Anti-capture value

Prevents “clinical universalism” from erasing local cosmologies and sovereignty.

Open Publisher Page

My Grandmother’s Hands — Resmaa Menakem (Somatic Practice)

CORE JUSTICE

Somatic approach to racialized trauma and “white body supremacy,” designed for embodied practice and group work.

Primary function

Body-based practice for trauma, anger, dissociation, and chronic stress

Best use

Group containers where race, policing, and intergenerational fear are present

Anti-capture value

Moves “analysis” into fascia and nervous system; less vulnerable to purely cognitive manipulation.

Open Book Page Open Author Site

1.4 Disability Justice & Survivor Politics

Skin, Tooth, and Bone — A Disability Justice Primer (Sins Invalid)

CORE JUSTICE

Disability justice as movement infrastructure: intersectional access, anti-carceral politics, collective care.

Primary function

Principles + practice frame for accessible, anti-ableist organizing

Best use

Designing group spaces, mutual aid, and community systems where disability is central not peripheral

Anti-capture value

Prevents “inclusion theater”; centers those most impacted as designers and leaders.

Open Primer (PDF) Open 10 Principles

Hearing Voices — Group Guidelines & HVN-USA Charter

CORE PEER

Peer-led meaning-making for voices/visions/extreme states: multiple interpretations permitted, coercion resisted, dignity preserved.

Primary function

Non-clinical group structure for unusual experiences and “psychosis” without pathologizing defaults

Best use

Building local peer groups; training facilitators; setting group norms and safeguards

Anti-capture value

Breaks “hospitalize/medicate” reflex and protects freedom of interpretation.

Open Group Guidelines Open HVN-USA Charter (PDF)

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2) Peer / Mutual-Aid Infrastructure

This layer defines relational governance: mutuality, co-reflection, self-authored crisis planning, and voluntary peer-run alternatives to hospitalization.

Intentional Peer Support (IPS) — Framework + Co-Reflection Guide

PEER CORE

Peer support as mutual learning and social change: relationship is the method, not a service transaction.

Primary function

Peer practice doctrine: mutuality, power-awareness, growth through relationship

Key tool

Co-reflection: structured peer reflection that models the same mutuality used with participants

Anti-capture value

Resists professionalization drift by keeping expertise co-created.

Open IPS Home Open Co-Reflection Guide (PDF)

High-leverage uses

Train peer supporters in “relationship-first” practice.
Run co-reflection sessions to keep a peer team aligned and non-hierarchical.
Prevent “helper identity” from reintroducing domination dynamics.

Guidelines for the Practice and Training of Peer Support (MHCC)

PEER INTERFACE

Peer support practice standards and training guidance that regulators and systems recognize (while keeping peer identity intact).

Primary function

Legibility: clear definitions, ethics, competencies, and training expectations for peer work

Best use

Defending peer programs’ legitimacy; aligning training content without medicalizing peers

Anti-capture value

Protects peer roles from being absorbed into clinical hierarchies.

Open Guidelines (PDF)

Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) — Self-Authored Crisis Planning

PEER CORE

A structured process for building a personally authored wellness plan: toolbox, triggers, early warning signs, crisis plan, post-crisis plan.

Primary function

Self-governance over wellness and crisis pathways

Best use

Peer groups, recovery colleges, mutual-aid teams, and personal planning

Anti-capture value

Crisis plans owned by the person—not by institutions.

Open What is WRAP? Open Five Key Concepts (PDF)

Peer-Run Crisis Respite — Voluntary Alternatives to Hospitalization

PEER JUSTICE PATTERN

Small home-like crisis spaces run by peers; designed to prevent coercion, reduce hospitalization, and keep crisis held in humane community conditions.

Primary function

Acute support without locked wards; peer governance and voluntary entry

Best use

Design pattern for sovereign crisis infrastructure; alternatives to emergency psychiatry

Anti-capture value

Interrupts the “crisis → police/hospital” pipeline.

Open Peer-Operated Respite (PDF) Open Respite Review (PDF)

Warmlines — Peer Support Lines (Directories)

PEER BRIDGE

Peer-run phone/chat/text support for non-emergency distress; early intervention that reduces escalation into crisis systems.

Primary function

Low-barrier support and connection; peer listening as prevention

Best use

Design reference for building local warmline-like support in sovereign networks

Anti-capture value

Keeps help informal and voluntary; less institutional data capture.

Open MHA Warmline Info Open NAMI Directory (PDF) Open Warmline.org

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3) Community Practice & Transformative Justice

This layer covers the daily mechanics: group practice, psychological first aid, volunteer care, child/youth peer support, and explicit community-based responses to violence and harm.

3.1 Community-Based Training & Group Practice

IFRC Community-Based MHPSS — Volunteer Manual (2023)

BRIDGE INTERFACE

High-utility curriculum for training volunteers in supportive communication, psychosocial activities, protection awareness, and helper care.

Primary function

Volunteer training package (community-level practice)

Best use

Rapid skill-building for lay supporters and community responders

Anti-capture value

Practical skills without requiring clinical identity—pair with PTMF to avoid medical drift.

Open Volunteer Manual (PDF)

Save the Children — Community-Based Psychological Support Training Manual (1st ed.)

BRIDGE INTERFACE

Training manual with modules on stress/coping, supportive communication, community self-help, special populations, and “helping the helper.”

Primary function

Structured community training modules (children + adults)

Best use

Facilitator-led trainings; generating activity toolkits and group formats

Anti-capture value

Legible and practical; use as technique library inside a rights/justice frame.

Open Resource Page

3.2 Core Helping Skills (PFA + responder basics)

Psychological First Aid (PFA): Guide for Field Workers (WHO / War Trauma Foundation / World Vision)

BRIDGE INTERFACE

The canonical “Look–Listen–Link” guide: humane, practical support after crisis events, written for non-specialists.

Primary function

Universal baseline skillset for crisis support

Best use

Training everyone who interacts with distressed people (volunteers, teachers, peers)

Anti-capture value

Non-clinical and dignity-centered; avoids pathologizing.

Open PFA Guide (PDF) Open WHO Page

Basic Psychosocial Skills: A Guide for Responders (IASC)

BRIDGE INTERFACE

Compact guide to integrate basic psychosocial support into daily work (written for COVID responders but broadly usable).

Primary function

Rapid training: listening, empathy, grounding, supportive language

Best use

Short trainings, refreshers, “minimum viable skills” for large teams

Anti-capture value

Keeps support human and practical without clinical escalation.

Open Guide (PDF) Open IASC Page

3.3 Child/Youth Peer Support

I Support My Friends — Child & Adolescent Peer Support Kit

PEER BRIDGE INTERFACE

Training package enabling children and adolescents to support peers in distress safely, with adult mentors—built on PFA principles.

Primary function

Youth peer support curricula + facilitator guidance

Best use

Schools, youth clubs, displacement settings, community child protection networks

Anti-capture value

Builds peer networks before “case management” becomes surveillance.

Open UNICEF Page Open Download Hub Open MHPSS.net Resource

3.4 Transformative Justice & Community Accountability (Violence/Harm)

Creative Interventions Toolkit — A Practical Guide to Stop Interpersonal Violence

JUSTICE CORE

A comprehensive transformative justice toolkit for community-based responses to domestic, sexual, and family violence—designed as alternatives to police/courts/prisons.

Primary function

Step-by-step community intervention processes + tools + case stories

Best use

Building community safety & accountability outside the carceral state

Anti-capture value

Directly blocks “harm → police” reflex; puts tools in community hands.

Open Toolkit (PDF) Open Toolkit Page Open Workbook (PDF)

What this uniquely provides

Processes for survivors, people who caused harm, and supporters.
Tools for building safety plans without outsourcing to police.
Real-life cases, worksheets, and timelines for intervention phases.

Alternative Interventions to Violence: Creative Interventions — Mimi Kim

JUSTICE

Conceptual grounding for why and how community-based violence interventions function as anti-carceral practice.

Primary function

Strategic framing: why TJ/CA exists, what it resists, what it builds

Best use

Orientation text for teams adopting Creative Interventions toolkit work

Open PDF

3.5 Healing Justice & Movement-Centered Care

Healing Justice London — Methodology

JUSTICE PEER

A methodology library: politicized somatics, structured inquiry, and collective healing practice tied to abolition and community power.

Primary function

Group practice architecture for organizers and marginalized communities

Best use

Designing community “healing practice spaces” that don’t revert to clinical service models

Open Methodology Open Site

50+ Healing Justice Resources — The Chisholm Legacy Project

JUSTICE

Curated compendium of healing justice resources (frameworks, case studies, learning pathways), oriented toward movement and community power.

Primary function

Index map for building local healing justice curricula and practices

Best use

Selecting compatible tools for groups, trainings, and community support spaces

Open PDF

What It Means to Center “Healing Justice” in Wellness — TransformHarm

JUSTICE

Short, high-signal framing: shifts wellness from individual self-optimization into collective healing + political action.

Primary function

Orientation text for groups adopting healing justice practice

Best use

Opening reading for trainings; shared language for anti-capitalist wellness framing

Open Article

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4) Symptom-Relief & Clinical Bridges (WHO Suite)

These are pragmatic, scalable interventions. They are treated here as subroutines—useful for reducing distress, but always nested inside the Sovereign Core and Rights/Anti-Coercion spine.

Doing What Matters in Times of Stress (DWM) — WHO

BRIDGE

Illustrated self-help guide for stress management (ACT-informed). Usable alone or as part of SH+.

Primary function

Self-guided coping skills; foundational text for SH+

Best use

Community groups, guided self-help, brief helper-supported use

Open WHO Page Open PDF

Self-Help Plus (SH+) — WHO (Course + Training Manual)

BRIDGE

5-session group stress management course using DWM + audio; designed for delivery by trained non-specialists at scale.

Primary function

Large-group psychosocial support; prevention of worsening distress

Best use

Stepped care: first-line group support before more intensive interventions

Open WHO Course Page Open Manual (PDF) Open Training Manual Open Audio + Translations

Problem Management Plus (PM+) — WHO (Manual + Training)

BRIDGE

5-session transdiagnostic intervention for adults with depression/anxiety/stress: problem-solving, behavioral activation, stress management, social support.

Primary function

Focused brief psychological support delivered by non-specialists

Best use

People with functional impairment from distress in adversity contexts

Open PM+ Manual (PDF) Open Training Manual Open Translations Hub

Group Interpersonal Therapy (Group IPT) for Depression — WHO

BRIDGE

An 8-session group protocol (simplified for supervised facilitators without specialist training) focused on interpersonal triggers and relationship repair.

Primary function

Evidence-based group treatment pathway for depression

Best use

Community-based groups with supervision and referral options

Open WHO Page Open Manual (PDF)

Thinking Healthy — Perinatal Depression (WHO)

BRIDGE

A community health worker–deliverable manual integrating perinatal depression support into routine maternal care using simplified CBT techniques.

Primary function

Family-embedded mental health support for pregnant/postpartum women

Best use

Maternal health programs; women’s groups; community health work

Open WHO Page Open Manual (PDF)

mhGAP Humanitarian Intervention Guide (mhGAP-HIG) — WHO

BRIDGE INTERFACE

First-line management recommendations for mental, neurological, and substance use conditions by non-specialist health providers in humanitarian emergencies.

Primary function

Clinical bridge for severe conditions when specialist access is limited

Best use

Minimal clinical interface: basic care + referral logic without full institutionalization

Open WHO Page Open Guide (PDF)

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5) Humanitarian / State Interface Layer

These are the dominant global standards and coordination mechanisms. They are included as interface specifications: useful for translation, coordination, and negotiation, but never the governing ontology.

IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings (2007)

INTERFACE

The canonical 4-layer MHPSS “pyramid” and action sheets across sectors (health, protection, education, shelter, WASH, etc.).

Primary function

Coordination architecture for multi-sector emergency response

Best use

When interfacing with UN clusters/INGOs; as a map of how “the system” thinks

Open Guidelines (PDF) Open IASC Page

IASC Common Monitoring & Evaluation Framework for MHPSS (Version 2.0)

INTERFACE

Shared outcome domains and indicators for humanitarian MHPSS, used to standardize evaluation across agencies.

Primary function

Translation layer: express outcomes in donor/agency-compatible formats

Anti-capture use

Use as “reporting wrapper” without surrendering the community’s meaning system.

Open M&E Framework (PDF)

WHO–UNHCR Assessment Toolkit (2012): Assessing MHPSS Needs & Resources

INTERFACE

Mixed-methods assessment approach clarifying which tools to use for which purpose; maps both problems and community resources.

Primary function

Assessment design + tool selection in humanitarian contexts

Best use

Resource mapping that elevates local supports (not only deficits)

Open Toolkit (PDF) Open WHO Page

IASC 4Ws Tool (Who / Where / When / Doing What) for MHPSS

INTERFACE

Mapping tool to inventory MHPSS actors and activities across sectors; foundational for coordination and gap analysis.

Primary function

Actor/activity mapping + coordination

Best use

Make grassroots and peer initiatives visible in coordination spaces

Open IASC Page Open Manual (PDF)

MHPSS & Education in Emergencies (EiE) Toolkit

INTERFACE

Cross-sector integration toolkit linking MHPSS to education programming (schools, learning spaces, teacher support).

Primary function

Embed psychosocial support in education systems during crises

Best use

Youth-facing nodes; school-based peer support; teacher skill-building

Open MHPSS.net Toolkit Open Toolkit (PDF) Open UNICEF Brief (PDF)

Sphere Handbook — Essential Health Standard 2.5: Mental Health

INTERFACE

Humanitarian minimum standard: acknowledges prevalence of MHPSS needs and specifies minimum actions and access expectations.

Primary function

Minimum standards baseline for humanitarian health response

Best use

Defend minimal care expectations in crises; establish accountability floor

Open Std 2.5 (PDF) Open Full Handbook (PDF)

UNICEF Community-Based MHPSS Guidelines (Three-Tiered Support for Children & Families)

INTERFACE

Operational framework for community-based child/family MHPSS in humanitarian settings, including logframes and implementation tools.

Primary function

Architecture for child/family support systems across tiers

Best use

Embedding MHPSS into child protection, education, and community structures

Open Guidelines (PDF) Open Report Page

IASC Handbook: Mental Health & Psychosocial Support Coordination (2022)

INTERFACE

Standard guidance for multisector MHPSS coordination: working groups, roles, decision flows, accountability, and coordination mechanics.

Primary function

Coordination blueprint; how the formal system is structured in emergencies

Best use

Tactical literacy: understand and navigate the coordination environment

Open Handbook (PDF)

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6) Pattern Library — Implemented Models

Concrete models that have been deployed at scale or tested rigorously. Use as pattern language: roles, training time, supervision, setting, and governance assumptions.

6.1 Community-Led / Task-Shifted Models

Atmiyata — Community-Led Mental Health (Rural India)

PATTERN PEER

Local volunteers (“Champions”) identify distress, provide counseling and social support, and link to services/entitlements—low-cost and scalable.

Primary function

Volunteer-led detection + support + referral + social care linkages

Why it matters

Shows evidence-informed, community-owned structure for rural contexts

Open Project Page Open Trial / Paper (PMC)

Friendship Bench — Zimbabwe (Problem-Solving Therapy by Lay Workers)

PATTERN PEER

Evidence-based, community-located counseling delivered by trained lay workers (“grandmothers”) using problem-solving therapy.

Primary function

Task-shared, accessible talk therapy embedded in everyday space

Evidence anchor

Cluster RCT published in International Journal of Mental Health Systems (2015)

Open Zimbabwe Site Open RCT Paper Open Publications Hub

StrongMinds — Group IPT Delivery (Africa)

PATTERN BRIDGE

Implementation pattern for delivering Group IPT at scale with local facilitators; useful for understanding training pipelines and group operations.

Primary function

Scaled group depression intervention delivery model

Best use

Operational pattern reference: outreach, group formation, facilitation, follow-up

Open StrongMinds Open Cost-Effectiveness

BasicNeeds — Mental Health & Development Model

PATTERN JUSTICE

Integrates mental health care with livelihoods, community development, and empowerment to address poverty-linked distress and exclusion.

Primary function

Mental health + livelihoods + community development integration

Best use

Design reference for coupling psychosocial work with economic autonomy

Open Network Site Open MHIN Model Page

MHIDP — Mental Health Integrated Disaster Preparedness (Nepal & Haiti)

PATTERN INTERFACE

3-day group intervention integrating disaster preparedness, mental health, and social cohesion; implemented in Haiti and Nepal with evaluation.

Primary function

Preparedness + psychosocial intervention integration

Best use

Disaster-prone communities; resilience programming without purely technical framing

Open MHIN Page Open Evaluation (PMC)

6.2 Extreme States: Non-Coercive Alternatives

Open Dialogue — Western Lapland Outcomes (Seikkula et al., 2011)

PATTERN CORE

Network-based crisis response: immediate meetings with social networks, dialogic practice, long-term continuity of care, minimal institutionalization.

Primary function

System design pattern for psychosis/crisis without default coercion

Best use

Blueprint for network meetings + continuity teams + minimal forced pathways

Open Paper (PDF) Open Related (Abstract)

Soteria — Alternatives to Acute Psychiatric Hospitalization

PATTERN CORE

Homelike, relationship-based environments as alternatives to locked wards; emphasizes minimal medication and humane containment.

Primary function

Design pattern for non-institutional crisis housing

Evidence anchors

Mosher (1999) overview + systematic review (Calton et al., 2007)

Open Mosher (PubMed) Open Systematic Review (PMC)

Peer-Run Crisis Respite (Case Pattern Extension)

PATTERN PEER

Companion acute-care pattern to Soteria/Open Dialogue: peer governance + voluntary entry + connection-first support.

Open Model Paper (PDF) Open Evaluation Example

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7) Sovereign Audit Schema — Anti-Capture Checklist

Before adopting any resource, run it through this audit. The goal is to prevent “care” from becoming surveillance, coercion, or institutional dependency.

1) Governance

Who controls the program, edits the materials, and sets priorities? Is community/peer governance structurally real (not symbolic)?

2) Data & Surveillance

What data is collected? Who receives it? Can work be done with minimal or local-only records?

3) Coercion & Consent

What happens in crisis? Are police, forced treatment, or involuntary confinement defaults—or are voluntary peer options built in?

4) Economic Dependencies

Can the model survive grant collapse? Does it require professional pipelines, licensing, or permanent external funding?

5) Cosmology & Culture

Does it preserve local meaning systems (spiritual/cultural frames) or overwrite them with clinical universalism?

6) Interface Risk

If scaled, does it naturally integrate into digital ID, insurance, algorithmic triage—or can it remain locally sovereign?

7) Forkability & Antifragility

Can small groups adapt and remix it safely? Are failures local and reversible, or systemic and cascading?

8) Narrative & Subject Position

Are people framed as patients/beneficiaries—or as agents, peers, organizers, survivors, and co-authors of the system?

Operational rule: If a resource fails the audit on coercion, data capture, or governance, it is treated as an interface spec only (used to understand the dominant stack), not as internal “core code.”

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