A 45-year-old woman has learnt to control her emotions when someone speaks to her rudely and not react in a similar manner.
A 24-year-old-woman has been able to comprehend the needs of children.
Women and men, from different walks of life, completed a one-year course in counselling from Caring Minds, institute of mental health. While some intend to take it up professionally and others will apply the learnings for their personal growth.
The increased number of counsellors would help to meet the dearth of qualified counsellors, said Minu Budhia, the founder-director of Caring Minds.
A batch of students completed the postgraduate diploma in basic counselling recognised by Calcutta University. The institute organised a convocation for them on Saturday afternoon. “There is a gap between the number of counsellors we need and the number of trained and skilled professionals we have. This course is important because each one would take us one step closer to decrease the paucity of mental health professionals in our country,” said Budhia.
Schools and institutes also engage counsellors with more and more children requiring intervention, mild or intense.
The pandemic has also aggravated mental health conditions with many children losing their parents or grandparents.
“This course would help me to address the issues of children I work with,” said 24-year-old Gitika Arora.
For Paromita Dutta, a mother of a 16-year-old, counselling course has changed her approach towards people and situations.
“I have seen how mothers would try to harp on the negatives and ignore the positive things around,” said Dutta.
Budhia said counsellors needed to be free from “emotional turmoil” if they were to help others.
Education minister Bratya Basu and Chandrima Bhattacharya, minister of state (independent charge), urban development & municipal affairs were present at the event.
“A course like this is essential to close the gap between the number of people who need mental healthcare and the number of trained professionals,” Basu said.