8 June 2022 – From 8 to 11 May, WHO, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, conducted training workshops on cognitive behavioural therapy skills targeting mental health and psychosocial support professionals working in various facilities at the Ministry of Health.  

Cognitive behavioural therapy has been proven to be effective in treating depression and anxiety, as well as other mental illnesses and the workshops aimed to give staff working in the field of mental health cognitive intervention tools for dealing with common disorders, as well as psychological education in order to enhance their skills in providing high-quality services to mental health beneficiaries.

The training was delivered by an international consultant Dr Samah Jabr, WHO mental health expert, and came as part of WHO's efforts to strengthen the mental health sector to achieve the goals of Jordan’s National Mental Health and Substance Use Action Plan 2022–2026, which was recently developed with WHO support. The Plan is guided by the vison of the WHO Director-General’s Special Initiative for Mental Health (2019–2024), which Jordan was selected to be part of, given its recent achievements in the mental health sector.

One of the main activities outlined in the national mental health and substance use action plan 2022–2026 is to provide capacity-building (including supervision) to multidisciplinary teams in secondary and tertiary care facilities on evidence-based mental health interventions (according to bio-psychosocial, recovery and human rights models).

The workshops were held with the generous support of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation in Jordan.