By Tasneem Sara | Project Leader
PROJECT UPDATE (JANUARY TO MARCH 2020)
Mental Health Counselling for Adolescents from mental illnesses undertaken by AWAG, covers the areas of Bapunagar, Rakhial, Gomtipur, Saraspur and Ramol in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
On an average each year, interventions related to this project provides individual counselling support to over 500 adolescents from one to two semi-government schools from the above-mentioned areas
Progress of Activities
This project is concentrated in semi-government schools of East Ahmedabad namely – Bapunagar, Rakhial, Gomtipur, Saraspur and Ramol. The said areas are economically backward areas wherein parents of these children are predominantly labourers. Majority of the parents are illiterates and do not have the capability to understand or guide their children during mental distress. The common adolescent issues known are adjustment problems, relationship issues, educational issues, low self-esteem, family issues etc. which seemed to be very difficult to cope with both for the adolescent and the parents. This leads to high drop-out rate and weak academic performance.
To start with, the Counsellors conducted orientation sessions and reached out to adolescents from Class 9 to 12 of the selected school. The entire Class was educated on types and symptoms of mental illness. Children experiencing mental healthcare issues/symptoms were encouraged to enrol their name for individual counselling session. In addition, teachers also assisted in identifying children who needed extra psychological support. Following this, each child was allotted time for one-to-one counselling. The sessions addressed children’s emotional needs and equipped them with relevant coping mechanisms. Thus, a total of 478 adolescents (Girls-210 and boys-268) from Raghunath Higher Secondary Vidyalaya, Ahmedabad were provided mental health counselling.
Counselling provided them with:
In adolescents where severe Mental Health symptoms were visible, they were provided free treatment by the consulting psychiatrist.
The project with its 2-pronged approach continues to fulfil its reach to the adolescents, thereby providing them a better understanding of mental health leading them towards cure through counselling and medical help as per need.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR VALUED SUPPORT!
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