RAN REHABILITATION - Exploring digital/hybrid exit and rehab work

Background and aim of this event

While the digitalisation of everyday life continues, rehabilitation work in the context of (violent) extremism appears to have remained a largely “offline” field of work that relies on non-digitalised human-to-human interaction – at least when it comes to official project and programme descriptions.

However, the ongoing pandemic made it necessary for many practitioners to adapt to changing circumstances, which sometimes meant resorting to elements of digital or hybrid counselling work. And even before the pandemic, practitioners across Europe have been relying on messenger apps to stay in contact with their clients between sessions.

While digital means in this field sometimes seem to act only as a substitution for face-to-face interaction, technological innovation may also offer new opportunities that can support both practitioners and clients (e.g. the use of virtual reality, digital working spaces). And some of these opportunities are already being explored in adjacent fields.

In light of these developments, this REHAB WG meeting seeks to assess existing experiences from probation and exit work, explore the expertise gained in adjacent fields, and assess the potential for further expansion and/or improvement of digital and hybrid rehabilitation approaches.

Drawing on the famous quote from psychotherapy that “the couch isn’t necessarily better than the screen”, this meeting sets out to discuss the following questions:

• Which experiences with digital work have rehab and exit practitioners made already?
• Which useful experiences from related fields of tertiary prevention (e.g. psychotherapy, substance abuse, domestic violence) already exist?
• When/during which phases of a counselling process can digital efforts be useful?
• What are the opportunities provided by digital work in the context of rehabilitation?
• What are the risks posed by digital work in the context of rehabilitation and exit efforts?

Practitioners we are looking for are:

Experienced practitioners from rehabilitation work (exit, deradicalisation, probation), as well as practitioners from adjacent fields, who have experience with different digital or hybrid working methods (e.g. from psychotherapy, substance abuse, domestic/intimate partner violence). Please note that you do not need to be an expert on digital/hybrid working methods to register for this meeting.

Registration:

In order for us to find the best suited participants, please complete the following survey.

Deadline:

If you are interested in participating, kindly complete the survey by 10 March.

We will invite participants based on this information. As we only have a limited number of places available for this meeting, we unfortunately cannot guarantee participation.

Please note, the meeting will be held online in English. 

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact Maximilian Ruf.