Fatimah (third left) presents a hamper to the winner of the ‘Best Family Photo’ contest, one of many activities being run during her ministry’s ‘Family Day 2022’ event.
KUCHING (June 12): The Sarawak Psychology Counselling Centre will be set up soon, assures Minister of Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.
According to her, the proposed facility is meant to accommodate the rising need for counselling services following the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has been a very challenging time for many families, who have lost not only their jobs but also their loved ones.
“There’s already a plan for this service, meant for the community and the civil servants but when Covid-19 hit, such need had been magnified.
“So, we are looking at the resources here, the number of counsellors and the psychiatrists that we have, be they in the education institution, outside of education institution, (or) associations.
“We want to see how many we have and where are they.
“Although counselling can be done online, sometimes the counsellors need to see them (patients) physically as they may not say it, but the body language will.
“The body language will provide important information,” she said when met at her ministry’s ‘Family Day 2022’ event at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching yesterday.
Asked when the centre would be operational, Fatimah said for now, the ministry is still in the midst of mapping out the location of counsellors in Sarawak so that the areas that are lacking can be identified.
“We’re out to establish a support group consisting of counsellors, psychiatrists and coaches.
“The coaches will be brought in to assist as they understand the community, despite them not being trained as counsellors.
“Once the building, the structure and everything else that needed to be done is done, we will inform,” she said.
On the counselling services being offered for civil servants at the Welfare Department and Women Department, the minister said the personnel included ‘para-counsellors’ – those who had attended counselling courses, but were not licensed.
“These para-counsellors will be the first to receive the calls from clients, and connect them to the correct personnel.”
Fatimah highlighted that the state government had agreed for such services to be provided to the community as mental issues, if not handled properly, could sometimes escalate into depression and suicidal tendencies.
“We are concerned about the community, not just those in the government departments.
“They all need intervention and support so that they could get the necessary help, in line with the Post Covid-19 Recovery Strategy,” she added.
from Borneo Post Online https://bit.ly/3NFv3hc
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