Aktionsbündnis Seelische Gesundheit

Since 2011, vivo is partnered with the German association "Aktionsbündnis Seelische Gesundheit" (Alliance for mental health), which aims at an open and tolerant societal intercourse with mental health issues

The German association works for equal rights and integration of people with psychological problems and their relatives, by applying information about prevention, therapeutic intervention, and social and occupational integration.
Next to several other collaborating organizations, vivo represents a key part in the network of Aktionsbündnis Seelische Gesundheit, which shares essential information about diagnostic, evidence-based intervention and social integration of people with impaired mental health and reduced psychological functioning.

Ein Herz für Kinder

Since 2005 vivo has been partnered with the German association "Ein Herz für Kinder", which supports children in need internationally. The most important activities of "Ein Herz für Kinder" include education, supportive care, physical and mental health, fight against poverty, and environmental protection, as these topics are of primary concern to children who are often the most vulnerable in society. "Ein Herz für Kinder" essentially supported vivo's international projects with school-aged children in Sri Lanka and with former child soldiers in Uganda.

Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka vivo trained local school teachers as counselors specialized in trauma therapy and installed a cascade structure of referral for children affected by traumatic and stressful experiences. This structure allowed for the counselors themselves to train other schoolteachers in identifying children in need of therapeutic services. With the help of the local counselors, vivo implemented clinical treatment and counseling centers, which offer immediate and ongoing culturally relevant assistance for trauma related needs, including crisis intervention. In order to culturally specify the intervention and training of local counselors, vivo conducted scientific studies on the impact of traumatic war experiences, natural disaster (such as the Tsunami) and family violence on the mental health of children and the effectiveness of counselors therapeutic work.

Uganda
The work with former child soldiers, teenage mothers and orphans in northern Uganda focuses on the mental health and reintegration of the children victimized by civil war. vivo interviewed over 1000 children to understand their special needs and developed specific treatment and training modules, which focus on the development of conflict resolution skills and social competence as well as on treatment of traumatic experiences and the understanding of the causes and consequences of the civil war in Uganda.

European Refugee Fund (ERF)

Since 2002 the European Refugee Fund is supporting vivo strongly and essentially sustains the scientific work of the Psychotrauma Outpatient Clinic for Refugees in Konstanz, Germany.

The general objective of the European Refugee Fund is to support EU States’ efforts in receiving refugees and displaced persons and in guaranteeing access to consistent, fair and effective asylum procedures. The Fund also supports resettlement programmes and actions related to the integration of persons whose stay is of a lasting and stable nature. Moreover, it provides for emergency measures to address sudden arrivals of large numbers of persons who may be in need of international protection.

Within the scope of this cooperation, many cutting-edge research projects on PTSD and its consequences were realized, such as the examination of immunological impairment in PTSD patients, the investigation of transgenerational consequences of PTSD or the evaluation of trauma-focused therapy (Narrative Exposure Therapy).

United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture (UNVFVT)

Since 2008, the UNVFVT provides financial recourses to support the Psychotrauma Outpatient Clinic for Refugees in Konstanz, Germany, specifically for the purpose of psychological rehabilitation of victims of organized torture and violence, documentation of human rights abuse suffered by victims of extreme torture and advocacy for the elimination of such inhumane practice.

The UNVFVT assists non-governmental organizations, which provide humanitarian assistance to victims of torture and members of their family.
The funding focuses on providing trauma-focused, clinical treatment and diagnostics as well as additional psychological counseling to reduce psychopathological suffering in survivors and to re-establish their functioning and wellbeing in everyday life. In order to enhance knowledge on the most helpful interventions and to ensure high quality psychological support, the procedures and outcomes of treatment are rigorously scientifically monitored and evaluated.

University of Konstanz

Since the foundation of vivo in 2001, the University of Konstanz remains a very important partner.

In cooperation with the department for Clinical Psychology, vivo pioneered the Psychotrauma Outpatient Clinic for Refugees, which focuses on research, integration and dissemination of knowledge about epidemiology, diagnostic, and psychological treatment for survivors of massive human rights abuse, organized violence, rape, torture, war and terror. The Psychotrauma Outpatient Clinic for Refugees defines itself as an independent institution, which fills the gap between research (University of Konstanz) and practise (vivo) by documenting and disseminating not only scientific information but also evidence-based treatment and counseling methods for clinical expert practitioners and field counselors.