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EMERGENCY PSYCHOLOGY INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE

PROMO CORSO 2008

The International Institute of Emergency Psychology “Gianpaolo Nicolai” was founded on January 25th, 2003 by initiative of a group of psychologists engaged in activities of study, research and intervention in the emergency management area.
The Institute promotes studies and investigations in areas which involve emergency management, that is events caused by natural disasters, but also wartime events or terrorist acts, without forgetting environmental microemergencies as road accidents, gender conflicts, social conflicts, in particular in prisons.
The Institute, open only to psychologists, has a large support net in experts working in different ways in the emergency area: physicians, sociologists, anthropologists, jurists, economists. This inter-disciplinary approach has the aim to assure particular attention to the safeguard of human rights, that sometimes in emergency situations could be forgotten in the advantage of a technicism not always completely justified. That is why the Institute is engaged also in investigations of ethics, pedagogy, biomedicine, biojuristics, as well as relevant to emergency management.
Beyond the activities of study and research, the Institute wants to be more standing about activities of training for emergency workers. Actually, beside the cares for the subjects who undergo the formerly said traumas, the Institute wants to underline the need of a specific psychological approach directed to the workers.
Infact, very often they are subjected to burnout: very often they have a lot of good will and ethic enthusiasm, but they are not enough trained at operative level (as always happen to “volunteers” and sometimes even to “professionals”) We are forced to complain that the specific train doesn’t involve the psychological features. The purpose is to intervene trough suitable techniques were a participation more aimed at a psychological support s necessary, to the individuals and groups both of victims and rescuers.
The Institute has also, as a study and research object, the emergency Psychology trough and for the environment. The method used will be the permanent training trough the exploitation of environmental and cultural resources of social contest involved.
The Institute aims to create contacts and coordination nets, proposing itself as synthetic unitary event, especially at an European level, among the private and public organizations which are involved in emergency Psychology in Italy and abroad.
Moreover, the Institute proposes to exploit the circularity of critical contributions and various experiences, the socialization and creation of common codes capable of enriching the detailed competence of the emergency workers trough the national and international guidelines.
It also promotes the coordination of the initiatives in the range of statutory interest trough the setting up of a public register of boards and organization, public and private ones, involved in the range of the interests previously named.

Since all of us can be involved in emergency situations, special attention has given to prevention and stress management that in such situations may attack in a particular way, which could have serious consequences, more that in ordinary situations. In this way the Institute wants to take care of the training of psychologists and workers by specific courses and iniziative at an educational and training level.