A panellist speaking at the seminar organised by QU students.
In support of the human development pillar of the Qatar National Vision 2030, Qatar University students held the seminar ‘Get Assured’ on April 10 in cooperation with Yogasha Counselling and Yoga Centre, and with the participation of Dr Aisha Al Thani, and Dr Elewah Abdelhadi.
The seminar is part of the public relations campaign ‘Aqdem’ that aims to encourage the people who need psychological help to get rid of the fear of the stigma associated with seeking a counsellor’s help and to take the step towards getting professional help.
Aqdem is the strategic communication capstone project by Sara Mohammed Dastranj; Alanood Matar Alkhawar; Najoud Mohammed Almarzouqi and Hadil Zeidan Ataya under the supervision of Dr Eiman Eissa, from the Mass Communication Department, College of Arts and Sciences of the Qatar University.
The seminar included most essential subtopics that relate to counselling and psychiatry, where the two speakers discussed the meaning of counselling, its purposes, and the differences between counselling and psychiatry, as well as the different types of counselling. In addition to that, there was an open discussion with the audience, and a psychological test was distributed among them to get analysed.
Dr Aisha Al Thani, the founder of Yogasha Centre, said: “Counselling saves health in general, and it’s an essential pillar of mental/psychological health and psychology. Although there are many different definitions and keywords for counselling, it all leads back to its importance within the field of psychological health.”
Dr Elewah Abdelhadi, the consultant psychological counselling and behaviour disorders said: “Psychological diseases if it get ignored without therapy and healing, might develop into higher levels and reach more advanced stages of Cycosomatic diseases.”
An open discussion was held during the event where the audience had the chance to participate and ask questions regarding the topic. The attendees showed their support for the campaign and provided positive feedback.
Aqdem is a graduation project of female Public Relations students, besides that they wanted to establish the importance of going to counsellors when in need, they wanted to prove through this project that social media is capable of changing ideas and behaviours towards mental health cases.
