PSYCH UP SUMMARY Psychological disorders are usually associated with significant social distress and occupational difficulties and this explains why a growing number of VET centres welcome people affected by these troubles. However, not all professionals working in the VET sector have the necessary experience and knowledge to deal with this target audience. These professionals cover different roles within their organizations and most of the times have no (or very little) knowledge in the fields of psychology, psychiatry or disability. As a consequence, they are not always able to adopt the proper attitudes, to react appropriately, to adapt their tools/methods to the needs of these people. Such a situation produces in them a sense of powerless and a lot of frustration; besides, it can seriously undermine the success of the training and insertion path. To address this problem, 7 European organisations from 6 European countries have decided to run a project aiming at enhancing VET professionals’ skills and improving support for people affected by psychological disorders during their training path. Partners intend to achieve this goal by: - Creating a function profile of the “psychological disability referent" within VET centres - Developing a training frame of reference in connection with the function profile identified - Producing an open resources collection for VET professionals for better supporting people affected by psychological disorders Main expected results of this project are: - The emergence of referent persons in VET centres specifically in charge of improving support for people affected by psychological disorders - The development of a training course aimed at VET professionals, derived from the training frame of reference developed - Significant improvements in the way VET professionals deal with people affected by psychological disorders - The emergence of a community of practice at European level on the topic of psychological disability (at European level) Main expected impacts of the project (in the medium-term) are: - A much better quality of the training offer aimed at people with psychological disorders - The improvement of the continuing training of trainers in which partners are fully invested
In terms of support and integration of learners living with psychological disturbances, several observations are shared on the field: Vocational education and training (VET) professionals lack the knowledge, tools and experience to support and monitor these groups; More and more learners in VET organisations are affected by psychological disorders; These learners are more likely to drop out and abandon their training/integration pathway due to lack of adequate support Professionals in the sector declare themselves helpless in the face of this situation, not having references or resources adapted to the reality of VET in terms of support for these particular groups. In order to address this issue, seven partner organisations from six European countries came together to cooperate at European level on the issue of support for learners with psychological disorders. Actors from the fields of education, vocational training and socio-professional integration on the one hand, and experts in psychology/mental health and in the support of people suffering from mental health disorders on the other, have come together to develop common solutions thanks to a global approach to the challenge which brings them together. Thus, the Psych Up project aims at improving the support of learners living with psychological disorders during their training/education pathway, by paving the way for the emergence and professionalisation of "psychological disorders referents" in VET organisations in Europe. This objective will lead to two results: The adaptation of the support and training pathway for learners with psychological disorders The development of a community of practice at European level to exchange and enhance field practices for the support of learners The project intends to reach its objectives by working on the clarification of the role, missions and competences of the "referent in psychological disorders in VET" (or "Psych Up Referent") thanks to its 3 productions A common function profile, highlighting the specific tasks, roles and competences of the Psych Up Referent, as well as six versions adapted to the national contexts of the partners A common training framework, presenting the ideal training pathway for the Psych Up Facilitator: learning objectives, training contents, ...; as well as six versions adapted to the national contexts of the partners A collection of resources for the Psych Up Referent, including more than 60 resources useful to professionals in the field for the discovery, management and support of psychological disorders in training Thanks to these common references, throughout Europe, VET professionals will be able to adapt and improve the support and supervision of learners living with psychological disorders in training, in order to guarantee them a better socio-professional integration