ABSTRACT
This study looked into the issues that six public secondary guidance designates in the Division of Calamba City faced while providing Psychological First Aid (PFA) in the middle of a pandemic. A learning and development program was proposed as a result of the study to capacitate guiding designates in the delivery of PFA in the new normal of limited face-to-face learning delivery.
The approach was phenomenology, and the research design was qualitative. The study generated ten superordinate themes using an interpretative phenomenological approach: Response to Varied Circumstances, Through Seminars and Training, listening to Students and Establishing Rapport, Challenging and Fulfilling, Favorable Uses of PFA, Negative to Positive Reactions Before and After PFA, Therapy, Limitations to Interaction, Reaching Out to Learners, and Willingness, Empathy and Passion.
The first theme explored the guidance designates’ knowledge about PFA. For the second theme, the participants shared how they know about PFA, they discussed that it was through attending seminars and pieces of training for the third theme, the six participants cited the process they follow in providing PFA. For the fourth theme, they described their experience in providing psychological first aid. Under the fifth, it identified PFA over other means of intervention. The sixth theme was about the survivors’ reactions before and after providing PFA. As for the seventh theme, it was about adaptations/additions made in the conduct of PFA. The eighth theme talked about challenges they encountered in the delivery of PFA. Then the ninth theme was about their ways of coping PFA challenges. Finally, the tenth theme was about the ways the guidance designates become committed to providing PFA to learners.
Keywords: connectors, comforters, chief, lived experience, guidance designate, phenomenological, psychological first aid (PFA), pandemic
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