Volunteering in Conflicts and Emergencies Theme paper 6: Trauma and psychosocial support

This paper, the final of six preliminary working papers of Volunteering in Conflict and Emergencies (ViCE) initiative, explores the emotional impact of volunteering in conflicts and emergencies. The paper argues that volunteers exposed to stress and trauma when working in complex environments are often affected in different ways than their paid staff counterparts; volunteers often confront situations that are extremely distressing, made worse when their family and own communities are affected; the emotional impacts of volunteering can live on, but volunteers rarely have access to the psychosocial support and counselling that paid and particularly international aid workers can access.