Symposium on building capacity for mental health at BBH on May 14

Rawalpindi
The Institute of Psychiatry and WHO Collaborating Centre for Mental Health Research and Training here at Benazir Bhutto Hospital is holding a symposium on ‘Generating Evidence and Building Capacity for Mental Health and Psychosocial Interventions in Pakistan’ on Thursday.
The symposium is being held at the lecture theatre of the Institute at BBH. Director at the Institute Professor Fareed Aslam Minhas would deliver introduction for the participants while Specialist on Mental Health & Emergencies from World Health Organisation, Geneva, Dr Mark van Ommeren would talk on disaster mental health issue. Dr Mark van Ommeren would discuss in detail the psychological intervention Problem Management plus (PM+ programme), its implementation and evaluation in Pakistan.
The Problem Management plus intervention is developed by Dr Mark Van Ommeren and Dr Katie Dawson from University of New South Wales, Australia. This tool has been specifically designed for poorer settings such as Pakistan. PM+ is a psychological intervention that aims to provide psychological support for people in communities that are exposed to adversity, such as populations affected by humanitarian crises. The individual version of the intervention focuses on the improvement of individual functioning using the techniques of stress management, behavioural activation and problem solving.
Talking to ‘The News’, Professor Minhas said the group version of PM+ was developed by Dr. Katie Dawson and it is designed to help reduce symptoms of emotional distress in women affected by adversity and to empower women to be their own helpers to continue to maintain gains they make in treatment. Workshops for the group version of the PM+ have been conducted at the Institute of Psychiatry and the field trial of this psychological intervention is currently being carried out in Swat by local ladies who attended these workshops.
In the symposium, the Regional Adviser on Mental Health from WHO Dr. Khalid Saeed would discuss the global and regional development in the area of mental health and substance abuse. Principal Rawalpindi Medical College and Chief Allied Hospitals Professor Dr. Muhammad Umar has been invited as the guest of honour in the symposium.