Workshops for mental health professionals held

Islamabad

Mental health issues are increasing at an alarmingly rate in Pakistan. This was stated by Prof. Dr. Muhammad Tahir Khalily, director academics and chairman, Department of Psychology, IIU who organised and successfully conducted a series of workshops at a local hotel in order to mitigate and resolve the mental health problems in Pakistan.

The interactive and insightful workshops titled ‘Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for Mental Health Professionals’ were potentially helpful to the participants in learning healthy approaches, skills, and strategies to manage a range of psychological disorders. These therapeutic approaches included cognitive-behavior therapy for depression, social anxiety, eating disorders, obsessive- compulsive disorder; narrative exposure therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder; community reinforcement approach for additive behaviours; schema-focused therapy for personality disorders, and neuro-feedback therapy for a range of psychiatric disorders.

These workshops congregated renowned motivational speakers, researchers from both academia and health-care units and a large number of students.  These workshops provided a forum for dynamic learning interspersed with experiential hand-on activities, rigorous practical evidence-based exercises, theme-oriented videos culminating in supportive and guided discussions which aimed at facilitating personal growth, increasing self-understanding, and enhancing strategies needed to thrive as mental health
professionals and equipping them to steer their relationships to healthier and happier directions.

  The concluding session of the workshop was graced by Dr. Ahmed Yousif Al Draiweesh, President of Islamic International University, Islamabad who appreciated the hard work and relentless services of Dr. Khalily in unravelling the complex psychological problems plaguing the society and taking revolutionary measures to promote mental health in Pakistan with a missionary zeal. Speaking on the occasion he assured to extend his co-operation whenever needed.

He further added that the conclave was an exceptional opportunity for mental health professionals and students to learn skills and therapeutic modalities in order to ameliorate the well-being of the people. He also appreciated the strenuous efforts of Basharat Hussain, Shukriya Qasim, and Ahmad Ali Ansari for arranging a conducive environment to carry out these efficacious workshops. In the end, Dr. Ahmed Yousif Al Draiweesh awarded souvenirs and certificates to the participants of the CPD workshops.