Kripi Malviya & David Stanton
Tatva Center, India
Title: Harm reduction services at Festivals/events - providing welfare areas at international events offering psycho-education and psychological support to attendees and artists in Asia.
Biography
Biography: Kripi Malviya & David Stanton
Abstract
An Anglo/Indian mental health awareness and emotional wellness organisation is the only one in the whole of Asia that is providing harm reduction welfare areas at festivals/events. This is a new initiative/concept and part of our work is to crate safe places and communities to encourage group work to identify the needs of those attending such gatherings.Festival producers are increasingly recognizing the necessity for spaces dedicated to helping individuals through the challenges that can result from the consumption of psychoactive substances. Psychological support services are beginning to be seen as equally important as medical care services in festival environments, where many individuals choose to use these substances. They offer peer to peer counseling with individuals who are trained to work with overwhelming experiences. Many of our volunteers are mental health professionals, psychedelic researchers, and medical service providers. Others have training in holistic healing modalities or other relevant experience. We provide our volunteers with an on-site comprehensive training which further prepares them for offering harm reduction services.