Анонс. Международную конференцию Helping Children and Adolescents in Crisis (Помощь детям и подросткам в кризисе).

Announcement
International Conference
Helping Children and Adolescents in Crisis
May 27-28, 2011. Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia

Recent data have demonstrated increase of the number of children and adolescents with various behavioral and emotional problems. Issues of violence and aggressive behavior are becoming progressively relevant in today’s world and a frequent cause for social anxiety. This problem has particularly affected Georgia due to several wars in Abkhazia and Samachablo, Civil War, War between Russia and Georgia in 2008 and the general decline of social safety. Additionally, the state-regulated and state-supervised children and adolescents psychosocial provisions are practiced at the minimal level and therefore the responsibility is solely upon individual citizens. This puts further weight on the condition of those children and adolescents, who lack psychological and social readiness for leading independent life. This is the problem that requires interdisciplinary approach. Thus a multidimensional study of a number of aspects and factors appears to be the reasonable solution.
Since 2009 a group of psychologists at Ilia State University has been implementing a joint project with participation of Georgian and Swiss specialists. The Swiss side is represented by a team of psychologists led by Allan Guggenbühl –Professor at the Zürich University of Education, Director of the Zurich Institute for Conflict Management and Mythodrama ( IKM) and the Head of the Department of Group Psychotherapy for Children and Adolescents at the Psychological Counseling Center of the State of Bern. Professor Guggenbühl also leads the similar projects in Stockholm and Kyoto.
Georgian project group involved 18 persons, 5 of whom are Master students from Ilia State University, 1 PhD Student and 3 professors. A small group of psychologists works specifically with teen age groups of 8 to 16 year olds in schools and children homes (Dighomi Children Home), as well as with internally displaced, homeless and street children.
Fund “Global Initiative in Psychiatry- Tbilisi” has supported children and adolescents’ psychological health for many years now. At present GIP Tbilisi together with the Georgian Psycho -trauma Society is involved in psycho-social rehabilitation programs for families and children in Gori. The Fund is also piloting prevention services for juvenile delinquency in Gldani-Nadzaladevi District of Tbilisi. GIP also supports activities for improving and protecting the juvenile psychological study of these complex issues and is keen to join the initiative.
The Georgian Association of Analytical Psychology (GAAP) was founded in January 2002. It is a voluntary, non-governmental, social-professional organization. The aim of GAAP is to provide a specialist training in the theory and practice of psychotherapy and depth psychology for psychiatrists, psychologists, teachers in university departments, doctors and other mental healthcare workers. Some members of the association work with children, who have been exposed to multiple traumas that have been part of Georgia’s recent history and others work in different clinics and counseling centres that provide help for orphans, traumatized children and victims of torture.
The urgency of the matter requires conducting studies with different groups of children and adolescents, -among them the victims of aggression, victims of violence and those with other psycho-emotional and/ or behavioral disorders. The studies should take into consideration family pressure and gender specifics, psycho-social explanations and age specificities, in order to measure causes and effects preventing socialization. It is also strongly advisable to conduct a trans-cultural research, whose results will be used to prevent the further occurrence of this problem in the system of education.

Conference Dates: May 27-28, 2011
Venue: 32 Chavchavadze Ave, Tbilisi 0162, Georgia
Ilia State University, Auditorium #101.

Please send the abstracts (one page) before April 10 to Revaz Korinteli at Korintelirezo@usa.net and /or Nino Agdgomelashvili at ninoagd@gmail.com

Number of Participants is limited. For registration, please contact us before May 10, 2011:
Rezo Korinteli, Ilia State University
tel.: (+995 32) 95 29 09
e-mail: Korintelirezo@usa.net
or/and
Nino Agdgomelashvili, Global Initiative on Psychiatry - Tbilisi
49 A Kipshidze Str, 0162,Tbilisi, Georgia
tel/fax: (+995 32) 214006/08 or 235314, mob. (+995 99) 14 00 08
e-mail: ninoagd@gmail.com or nagdgomelashvili@gip-global.org

Project/ Conference is supported by:
Ilia State University
Zurich Institute for Conflict Management and Mythodrama ( IKM)
Psychological Counseling Center of the State of Bern
Fund Global Initiative in Psychiatry- Tbilisi
Georgian Association of Analytical Psychology