Training Theories of Mind in Post-conflict Northern Uganda

A great number of foreign NGOs have established programs in northern Uganda to treat mental ill health following the armed conflict. In this article, I explore how NGOs train local Acholi counselors to work with psychiatric notions of trauma and practice counseling with local clients. The training of counselors and the practice of psychotherapeutic counseling cultivates specific notions of what trauma is and how the mind works. I show how psychiatric concepts are introduced and practiced in new settings and reshaped by local concerns, while I contribute theoretically by framing these within an attentional learning approach.