PUNAR JEEVAN Counseling and Mental Health Service Centre

PUNAR JEEVAN Counseling and Mental Health Service Centre

புனர் ஜீவன் – மனநலம் மற்றும் ஆற்றுப்படுத்துதல் மையம்

COUNSELLING, PROMOTION OF MENTAL HEALTH, REHABILITATION, INTERVENTION AMONG ALCOHOLICS, INTERVENTION AMONG MENTALLY ILL

 Punar Jeevan: Kuthiraipanthi Vilai, Villukuri 629180, Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu.
Mobile: 9791975740, 9443344764, Email: [email protected]

Moved by the problems faced by the people with mental and emotional problems, Fr. T. Stanislaus, a Catholic Priest, established PUNAR JEEVAN Counseling and Mental Health Service Center in the year 1992. It was registered under Indian Trust Act in the year 1992 with the number 84/92. It is a voluntary, non- profit making organization, which upholds the human and social values in its commitment to the poor and those who have psychological problems. Its services reach out the needy irrespective of caste, creed, race and religion.

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Counselling

One of the major activities of Punar Jeevan to promote a healthy society is offering counseling services to the needy ones. Different strategies are adopted to extend counseling.

Individual counseling

Persons with emotional problems are helped to ventilate their feelings, get insight into their problems and to find solution to it.

– Personal counseling is offered in a comfortable room where persons can feel the privacy

– Persons with suicidal tendency are counseled and closely followed

– Counselling through mail and / or phone is also offered

– In case of emergency, home based counseling services are also offered

– They are also referred to their professionals based on their need

School counseling

Counselling services are extended to the students at the school level or in the center itself. As part of the intervention among students, programmes are conducted on the following topics:

– Self actualization
– Value education
– Environment
– Traffic rules
– Health awareness
– Blood donation
– Motivation
– Career guidance
– AIDS prevention etc.

During the programmes, students with psychological and emotional problems are identified and special intervention is given to them to cope with the situation


PROMOTION OF MENTAL HEALTH

  • Promotion of awareness among the public on mental health and prevention of mental illnesses through posters, charts, leaflets, handouts, street theaters talks and seminars.
  • Display of books on mental health and allied subjects.

The programmes aim at:

  • Promotion of general well being
  • Self acceptance and self actualization
  • Stress on child rearing habits
  • Promotion of community based volunteers to promote mental health
  • Early identification and treatment of mental illness.
  • Facilitating the family and the community to take part in the treatment process
  • Eradicate or minimize the stigma related to mental illness
  • Reduce the myths and misconception on mental illness
  • Preventing the mentally ill from exploitation

Collaboration with the Govt and other NGOs who have similar vision


Intervention Among Alcoholics

– Motivating the Alcoholics for treatment

  • De- toxification and withdrawl symptoms and health problems associated with addiction are dealt with in a comprehensive way

– Psychological therapy

  • It comprises of individual counseling,
  • Group therapy and
  • Relaxation techniques

– Patients are encouraged to meet the psychiatrist and the counselor to seek guidance

– Family is provided with emotional support to manage the stress caused by the behavior   of the addict.

– Patients are encouraged to join in the Alcoholic Anonymous group
.


Rehabilitation

– Visiting the worshipping places with the medical team and giving proper medical care to    those patients who had been denied medical treatment.

– Through counselling helping the patients to face the problems and to solve them one by    one on priority basis

– Trying to remove the stigma through various methods so that the patients will be    accepted by their family members and the society.

– Community support is sought in the rehabilitation process

– Helping the couple to come together, who had been living separately due to alchoholism    and mental illness.

– Visiting the homes of the patients and making close monitoring so that they continue    their treatment. This prevents relapses.

– Finding part time / full time employment to the recovering / recovered patients.


Gist of activities carried out:
From 1992 Punar Jeevan has carried out the following activities
1. Individual counseling – 13126 persons

2. Marital counseling – 513 couple

3. Psychiatric treatment – 4372 persons

4. Rehabilitation of Alcoholics –  627 persons

5. Referral service –  2132 persons

6. Awareness progrmmes –  134 villages

7. Seminar for parents on child reariry – 148 villages

8. Counselling and career guidance – 73 schools

9. Training to volunteers on community psychiatry – 46 persons

10. Counseling the psychiatric patients and their family members once a week in general hospital – 2 hospitals

11. Seminar for teachers – 32 schools

12. Free medical camp – 8

13. Blood donation motivation camp – 9

14. Displayed books on mental health in various places and distributed leaflets on the same topic

15. Published handouts on the following: mental health, Alcoholism, career guidance, child rearing, healthy family, Role of teachers in personality development

16. Awareness was given to the public on the following matters and certain remedy has been achieved.

  • Chaining of mentally ill patients and treating them in an inhuman ways in worshiping places in Kanyakumari district.
  • Problems of mentally ill patients abandoned by pilgrims from other states
  • Lack of psychiatrist in the Govt. General Hospitals of Kanyakumari district.
  • Production and consumption of illicit liquor ‘Aristam’ which is the cause of many problems in Kanyakumari district.