By Bidya Maharjan Rajbhandari | Program Development Officer
Chhahari Nepal for Mental Health have been building up on providing support to mentally ill people and their carers. Our Welcome center has been running for a year now and plays a huge role in the client support aspect of our work. We have realized that it is essential to have a carers support group for awareness and guidance whilst they themselves support mentally ill person/s.
Collaborating with Elijah Counselling and Training Centre (ECTC), Chhahari has been actively enhancing the creative skills of carers; who care for mentally ill people, and have agreed upon providing a 2-monthly carer’s workshop. So far, we have had three sessions with the ECTC psychosocial counselors. These session has helped Chhahari staff to build a closer bond with the carers by understanding them and their needs. These sessions are not only to help carers to enhance their self-esteem but also a learning experience for the staffs and volunteers. These activities have been designed to observe and enhance communication and cooperation skills.We have around 12 carers attending the sessions.
These workshops allow friends, family members and other carers the opportunity to meet others. The carers have found it comforting to know that other people have had similar experiences. These sessions cater for particular types of carers or family members as well, such as for children with parents who have mental illness or partners, parents or siblings.These sessions have proved to be of huge psychosocial importance and have also helped to build closer bonds as well as build up self-esteem amongst the carers.
As the number of the clients and carers has increased in the past few months, we managed to rent another room in order to get a larger space for the activities which are part of the workshop, and to make it more convenient for the clients, carers and staffs.
The first carers session used art therapy as an exercise of expression. Group art work (drawn and painted on paper) were used to create a story between all the participants.This was a way of helping the participants develop their imagination and to express in a way other than verbally.
The second carers session was clay therapy. Using clay to create pieces, the participants were asked to do excercises such as closing their eyes and decribing a positive experience. The feedback received from the carers for this activity was the release of tension and relaxation due to the chance to express their inner feelings.
The sessions are focused on group work, imagination, expression and relaxation. They have been a platform for the carers to express their emotions in various ways. They learnt to acknowledge and incorporate both the negative and positive aspects of the caregiving experiences.
These sessions have played a huge role in strengthening the support system of a mentally ill person, which is one of the most important factors in recovery. Gradually, we plan to include community based workshops and enhance our reach beyond Chhahari premises. We plan to get more professional help to support staff and build their capacity. This will also allow us to interact and integrate with other like minded organizations here in Nepal.
By Bidya Maharjan Rajbhandari | Program Development Officer
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