Events
A main focus of the network is to inform about the psychological situation of populations affected by war, to raise public awareness, to sustain a solidarity movement in the Norwegian population, and to expand our network.
We also host live webinars based on the needs of the practitioners participating. These focus, for example, on the situation of children, on teachers, on parents, on losing a loved one, on treating victims of sexual violence, on dealing with extreme stress, to name just some of the topics we have covered.
Upcoming
Our collaborator Rami Khader of Anar addresses this question and his work in children’s mental health in Palestine and art-based approaches in an in-person public talk.
Rami is the founder of Anar, and a social worker and artist from Bethlehem, Palestine. He is an expert in humanitarian response, psychosocial support, and grassroots community empowerment.
Previous
Join Emad Al-Rozzi's session covering three years of trauma experiences in Gaza, and ongoing projects involving psychosocial support in Gaza. Emad, an assistant professor at OsloMet, has extensive experience working with psychosocial support for children and families living under conditions of violence and displacement.
This event marks the launch of CareBridge, a three-year Norwegian-Ukrainian educational partnership. At this event, Ukrainian and Norwegian professionals will come together to discuss what it takes to build mental health services during wartime, how educational institutions can shoulder such a responsibility, and what Norway can learn from Ukrainian experiences regarding emergency preparedness, caregiver burnout, and services for displaced persons.
How do you support a population psychologically when the trauma is never post? Our film screening "Young Freud in Gaza" and podium discussion with Emad Al-Rozzi from Gaza explore the strategies, hopes, and limits of mental health support under occupation. Our original guest, Rami Khader, Anar, Westbank, could not travel at this point because of the catastrophic situation in Palestine and the region right now.
We will be hosting a public lecture given by Dr. Munyi Shea, a counseling psychologist whose work seeks to advance culturally informed mental health education, prevention, and intervention to address health disparities among historically underserved communities.
Her lecture, grounded in two decades of research, examines the cultural, emotional, and structural forces that shape mental health help-seeking among immigrant and historically underserved communities. It invites a cross-cultural conversation about how institutions can move from awareness to action in co-creating systems of care that honor identity and voice.
How do veterans and their families move beyond survival, and what does “choosing life” look like after profound trauma?
Unfinished Stories follows filmmaker Nidal Damo in Gaza as war repeatedly interrupts the narratives he tries to capture, culminating in his own family’s loss. After the screening, a conversation the panel explores the psychological and generational consequences of continuous violence. The session invites the audience to reflect on memory, resilience and what it takes to break cycles of trauma.
We are holding this screening and discussion in collaboration with MHHRI and HUMAN Film Festival, see the official event page for more info and to buy tickets.
This exhibition presents stories and illustrations created through psychosocial work with Palestinian children in Bethlehem. Developed by Anar, shown in collaboration with the Solidarity Hub and MHHRI, and hosted by HUMAN Film Festival, the installation explores how art and storytelling support children living under conflict. Visitors are invited to reflect on resilience, rights, and the emotional worlds of young people growing up amid violence.
This exhibition presents stories and illustrations created through psychosocial work with Palestinian children in Bethlehem at Anar. It presents a selection from Anar’s forthcoming book, offering an intimate window into the inner worlds of Palestinian children, their fears, dreams, and coping mechanisms.
In collaboration with MHHRI and HUMAN Film Festival, this workshop introduces those in Oslo to a creative animation method developed by Palestinian artist and filmmaker Rasmi Damo, grounded in practices that help children process difficult emotions and experiences. Through storytelling, drawing, and stop-motion techniques, participants turn their own ideas into a short animated film made together with Rasmi, founder of Fekra France.
The process blends artistic exploration with child-centred psychosocial support, offering a safe space for expression, cooperation, and imaginative problem-solving. The finished film will be screened at the end of the festival week, highlighting the participants' creativity and collective work.
This closed workshop brings together researchers from the Solidarity Hub (Department of Psychology, UiO), Mental Health and Human Rights Info (MHHRI), and practitioner expertise from Fekra France to explore structured collaboration. Our aim is to define one collaborative research direction, clarify institutional roles, and agree on next steps in our collaboration.
The meeting is organised within the framework of UiO: Life Science support for international research development.
In the context of complex trauma and war, art transcends aesthetic expression; it becomes a language of survival and reconstruction. When words often fail or are forbidden, art becomes a witness. It allows expression of what is unspeakable.
This panel discussion will focus on the intersection of art, trauma, and mental health, with a special emphasis on Palestine and Palestinian children. We aim to explore the role of art therapy and creative expression in addressing trauma caused by war, violence, and occupation in Palestine, while at the same time platforming artists and experts in the field to express their ideas and experiences.
We bring international experts together to improve psychosocial support for families of military personnel, veterans and their communities.
Speaker: Line Stânicke Indreveoll, UA psychologist specializing in children and adolescent psychology and a researcher at UiO.
Speaker: Akiah A. Ottesen, UA psychologist and researcher at UiO.
Speaker Emeritus Nora Sveeass, the founder of NGO MHHRI
We gave an update on our activities to the faculty at Department of Psychology, University of Oslo.
Iryna and Anna from ISPP visited Oslo for a week in April 2024. During this time, they taught the students at PSI, gave a lecture for the institute, met with other initiatives at the Mental Health and Human Rights Info, and planned research cooperation. They also gave an interview for the Social Science Faculty newsletter.
We co-organized the screening of the movie "In the rearview" by Maciek Hamela and a podium discussion afterwards on children in war, led by Nora Sveaass, at the annual HUMAN Documentary film festival.
World Mental Health Day 2022 event at the Department of Psychology.
We organized a lunch seminar with contributions by social psychologists across Europe about social psychology's response to the war in Ukraine.
On March 7, 2022, 2 weeks after the Russian attack on Ukraine, the Psychological Institute arranged an event with talks on the war, on trauma and on politics, giving faculty and students a chance to reflect and engage. The Ukraine initiative grew out of this event.