PESHAWAR: The University of Peshawar (UoP) in collaboration with Deutshe Welle Academy, Germany, will set up a psychological trauma centre at the UoP’s Department of Psychology for journalists reporting from hard areas.

According to the UoP press release on Thursday, the trauma centre would provide psychotherapy to journalists working in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas so they could overcome the aftermaths of tragic events.

This was decided in a meeting of the visiting Deutche Welle Academy’s country manager Ms Karin Schadler with UoP vice-chancellor Prof Rasul Jan. Department of Journalism chairman Prof Altafullah and Department of Psychology chairperson Dr Erym Irshad also attended the meeting.

Journalists witness tragic events much closer to them and it is natural for them to face psychological traumas, said the VC while talking to the delegation. He called for following a strict code of ethics to manage breaking news so that miscreants could not benefit from the real life information provided in it.

A core group comprising members from the academia, Peshawar Press Club and Khyber Union of Journalists has been formed to start the psychological trauma centre in September this year, said Karin Schadler.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2014