Psychosocial Training
Ages: 18+ Years
A program designed for adult entrepreneurs of micro-, small- and informal sector enterprises
Implementation Guide
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Psychosocial Training strengthens the psychological, social, and behavioural capabilities that help women participate confidently in income-generating activities. Delivered through week-long life-skills sessions, community discussions, and norms-shifting activities, it targets decision-making, problem-solving, communication, aspirations, and self-worth.
It often includes group-based CBT, simple cognitive reframing, and emotional-regulation skills adapted for low-literacy settings.
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Large-scale RCTs show:
Increased participation in income-generating activities
Higher business and household revenues
Improved intra-household decision-making
Better mental health: lower depression/anxiety, higher optimism and coping
Strongest cost-effectiveness among livelihood-support packages
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The programme relaxes internal constraints—confidence, aspirations, social norms, stress, and emotional barriers—that prevent women from using economic resources effectively. Strengthened coping, better communication, and supportive peer networks translate into more productive economic engagement.
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No evidence of harm when delivered by trained facilitators. Adapted CBT exercises are simple, non-clinical, and safe for low-resource, low-literacy settings. Group format reduces isolation and increases safety.
Best Practices
Combine life-skills training, aspiration building, and norms-shifting activities for maximum impact.
Use participatory delivery methods (role plays, group discussions, storytelling, games) that match low-literacy contexts.
Deliver through locally recruited facilitators with short, structured training; no specialised mental-health professionals required.
Pair individual-level skills (decision-making, self-efficacy, coping) with community-level reinforcement (film screenings and discussions).
Use standardised, simplified group-based CBT manuals adapted for rural or fragile settings.
Prioritise women facing restrictive norms, low confidence, or high stress—groups in which evidence shows the largest behavioural and economic gains.
Maintain a consistent group format to build peer support and social capital, a key mechanism driving mental-health improvements.
Evidence Base
A landmark multi-country RCT in Niger (Bossuroy et al., 2022) shows that adding psychosocial training to a standard livelihoods package leads to higher household revenues, greater economic participation, and substantial increases in aspirations, confidence, and social support. The psychosocial arms were the most cost-effective, demonstrating that relaxing internal psychological constraints dramatically improves economic outcomes. Evidence from conflict-affected Pakistan (Saraf et al., 2019) further shows that group-based CBT yields large, persistent reductions in depression and anxiety, strengthening women’s ability to engage productively in economic activities. Together, these studies establish psychosocial training as a scalable, high-impact complement to livelihood programmes.