Counselling for students to face psychological stress advised

Mangalore Today News Network

Nitte, July 17, 2015:  Speaking at a  four-day State-level workshop on ’introduction to therapeutic counselling for engineering teachers’ organised by NMAM Institute of Technology at Nitte,  Dr Malavika Kapur, Professor of Clinical Psychology, Visiting Professor, National Institute for Advanced Studies (NIAS), IISc campus in Bengaluru,  said  that most students tend to align with their parents and when they start living in professional institutes, away from their parents, they may suffer from common psychological disorders.  So, counselling becomes an important issue for such students. Therefore, soft skills are required for all our engineers and teachers in this regard to deal with the such psychological disorders among young people.

She spoke on the importance of counselling as good communicator, collaborator, manager, health advocate, scholar and professional. Convenor Prof. Shalini K Sharma, Head , Department of Counselling, Welfare, Training and Placement said acquainting caring teachers with needs of adolescents, their psychology, identifying problems in them early and intervening in a sensitive and professional manner, is the most feasible, cost-effective way to maximise growth in youngsters. It invariably helps them to deal with challenges in their personal and academic life which if ignored, would have resulted in waste of time, money, health and life.

The workshop is a proactive approach to effectively deal with student’ issues especially for teachers of professional colleges who come with no training in student psychology or teaching-learning styles or common psychiatric disorders among young people.

With mental illnesses - both major and minor (and adjustment disorders), affecting as many as 25 per cent at any given point of time resulting in dysfunction in their personal and academic arenas, it is but essential that our teachers are empowered to deal with the young under their care with the right knowledge and skills and have a reference point to seek guidance whenever they face problems.