Over the past 25 years, humanitarian programming has increasingly included attention to the psychological and social impacts of conflict. Over this time, a wide variety of approaches have been developed to address these ‘psychosocial’ issues. The authors argue that labelling these approaches, as a distinct and separate sector of activity is not helpful, either conceptually or programmatically. They further believe close operational co-ordination is essential among the various kinds of intervention required to help any particular population affected by armed conflict to improve its psychosocial, biological and material well-being. The article includes a graphic framework that reflects the integration of safety, participation, and development within the various elements of well-being. An integrated perspective and approach is proposed that calls for inclusion of psychosocial issues within humanitarian programming, across all sectors of intervention.The significant question is not, therefore, what constitutes a ‘psychosocial intervention,’ but rather how do humanitarian interventions together promote overall well-being. Throughout the article, points are illustrated with examples from field practice.
