Psychological Counselling

About the course:
We grew up thinking that to be healthy means to be physically healthy, that we have to keep our cholesterol, triglycerides, our blood-pressure within normal limits etc. We did not pay attention to the fact that to be healthy means ‘to be healthy in body and mind’. For a long time mental health was a neglected area in the whole world, especially in poor countries where people were struggling to arrange for two square meals a day, mental health was considered a luxury and mental problems were considered a figment of imagination. It was only towards the end of 19th century and beginning of last century that some serious attempts were made to recognise mental health problems as real disorders that can be treated and sometimes cured. Quite a bit of progress was made in 20th century in the area of mental health.
However, the recent corona pandemic showed us the inadequacy of our mental health facilities. In the post-pandemic era, the handful of mental health professionals we have in our country were booked to the toe. Many people needed help but there was an acute shortage of qualified professional, especially counsellors and psychotherapists. Hence, help was unavailable even to those who needed it badly. It is during this period that we became aware of the necessity of a course that would train people to be qualified professionals. Hence, the beginning of this course!
Our Vision:
We are aware of the fact that to be a good mental health professional is not an easy task. It requires a perfect balance of theoretical knowledge, practical work, a sensitive mind, an empathetic attitude and a desire to help people in distress.
We did not want this course to be a run-of-the-mill course where one can get a diploma by simply cramming a number of theoretical topics. This course was started with the vision of training the students  in a holistic way where the students will have theoretical knowledge of all the important areas of counselling, do practical work and a certain degree of self-work leading to the resolution of their own complexes and conflicts – a foundation for being a good counsellor.  
We started with an Eight-month Certificate Course under West Bengal State University at Barasat in 2022. On heavy demand in the same year, we started an advanced P.G. Diploma course in Psychological Counselling under the affiliation of Sister Nivedita University, Kolkata.
Intake capacity: 24
Teaching Methodology:
Mode of teaching is offline through:

• Interactive classes
• Audio-visual presentation
• Skills practice through Role Play
• Small groups discussion, like Coffee pe Churcha
• Presentation: Individual and Group
• Quiz, debates, workshops and seminars
• Film reviews
• Internship in Mental Hospitals and other organisations dealing with different kinds of mental health problems.

Infrastructure:
i. Audio-visual facilities
ii. Psychometric Testing materials including Rorschach, TAT and CAT
iii. Play therapy materials
iv. Television
v. Microphones
vi. Soft Boards for displaying charts
vii. Seminar Library.

Classes:
Classes are held on Fridays, Saturdays and Monday for three hours- from 12 to 3:30/4 PM. Dates and timing of classes may be changed as per special requirement of the resource persons and the topic of teaching.

Contact Details:
Email Id: psycoun2022@gmail.com