A Psychosocial Approach to Reintegration Counselling Adapted for the East and the Horn of Africa Region | January 2020

The present guide is intended to provide key information on the importance of post-arrival counselling, the basic counselling and communication skills, and how to conduct a reintegration counselling interview. At the same time, it offers some tips to understand the emotional complexity and the psychosocial challenges that returnees might experience upon return, which can affect positively or negatively how they reintegrate into their communities, engage with the programme, and interact with IOM Assistant/Counsellor.

This guide is not meant to constitute Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), but it is rather a practical tool to support the IOM Assistant/Counsellor during the reintegration counselling process. It does not cover counselling of specific cases such as victims of trafficking or torture, children and others whose return counselling requires specific skills, attitudes, and precautions.