Clinical psychologist, Siobhan Lockie: life on assignment

05 Jul 2024

Siobhan Lockie is a clinical psychologist specialising in trauma therapy. She is currently working as a clinical educator in Christchurch, but took some time out to complete her first assignment with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). She kindly spoke to us about what drew her to MSF and her first assignment in Nablus, Palestine

Siobhan-with-colleague-Palestinian-intercultural-mediator-Noura-Arafat

Siobhan Lockie with her colleague, Palestinian intercultural mediator Noura Arafat, in the MSF mental health clinic in Nablus. © MSF/Louis Baudoin-Laarman

What is your job in New Zealand/Aotearoa and what led you to apply with MSF?

I am currently working as a clinical educator in a mental health hospital in Christchurch, where there is a specialist clinic providing care for patients with conditions such as anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder. I was drawn to working with MSF because I saw it as an opportunity to share the skills I have where they are really needed, on a human level. 

You’ve just returned from your first assignment in the West Bank, Palestine. Why is MSF working there?

The West Bank has not received as much coverage as Gaza during the war. But Palestinians here are living under occupation, suffering daily traumas that have severe impacts. Much of the violence that is inflicted in the West Bank is psychological; people are forced into a constant state of alertness and a lack of ability to plan their futures.

The presence of the Israeli forces can be felt in most areas. There are regular military operations and restrictions on movement, which were already impacting access to care for patients prior to October but have since intensified. 

Sometimes a military operation would prevent our access to patients in a certain area for several weeks. There are also violent attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers. Our patients ranged from people who had been released from Israeli prisons where they had experienced torture, to university students who were struggling with depression. Each person I worked with had unbelievable resilience. I hadn’t encountered that level of resilience before.

As a psychologist, what did your role involve?

I was working across Nablus governorate, and the neighbouring governorates of Qalqilya and Tubas. Every day was different. Myself and my Palestinian colleague, an intercultural mediator and interpreter, would visit patients in their homes. Some patients would come to the MSF clinic for psychological therapy, and we would also do group sessions in community spaces. 

In these sessions we would provide people with education on mental health, discussing natural responses to trauma, ways to manage trauma, and how to talk to children about mental health. We explained what support MSF could offer.

Our team ran specialised programs, including a psychological education program for women in the old city of Nablus to provide them with support after several military incursions. 

Each person I worked with had unbelievable resilience. I hadn’t encountered that level of resilience before.

siobhan-lockie
Siabhan Lockie
Clinical Psychologist

What advice would you give others interested in working with MSF?

I would say, do it. However, do have a think about your motivations. An MSF career isn’t about wanting to travel, experiencing an adventure, or being a hero. You have to be really honest with yourself about what you can contribute, because it really is a privilege to do this work. 

What have you taken away from your time in Palestine?

The strength of the team: my colleagues in Nablus are such strong and wonderful people, doing an incredible job despite their own trauma from living under the same occupation as the patients. I also saw how powerful mental health education, and other forms of education, are for the community there. People are highly educated and that is an important form of survival and resistance for them.

Do you have an example of how impactful mental health support is for the community in those areas?

There was a young man who sought mental health support with our team, a father who had been living in Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza with his family. He was working in Israel before the war, and like many other men, in October he was prevented from returning to Gaza and became stuck in Nablus (West Bank). He was trying to get home to Gaza, to reunite with his children and pregnant wife. I gave this patient some breathing strategies to help calm his mind. I was acutely aware that this seemed like quite a limited tool to deal with what he was going through: separation from his family while they were being bombed. But he returned the following week and told me that the breathing techniques were very useful, and that he had been using them every day. He had taught them to his eldest son, who was seven years old, over the phone, and his son had shown his sisters and their friends how to do them. I was so humbled when he told me this.

MSF mental health specialists 

Our mental health professionals fulfil critical roles in our projects, both in emergency and longer-term programs. Experience in providing support in post-traumatic stress disorder and trauma-based programs is valued, as is clinical experience providing support for other severe mental health conditions. All mental health 
specialists require post-graduate clinical qualifications and a minimum of two years post-qualification clinical experience.