“Gaza Community Mental Health Programme started a training course entitled “Mental Health for Children”

In cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education, Gaza Community Mental Health Programme started a training course entitled “Mental Health for Children”
 

Lately, the Training and Scientific Research Department at Gaza Community Mental Health Programme started a training course entitled “Mental Health for Children”. The training was conducted in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education. This training is part of the project entitled “School Counseling Programme Supporting  Traumatised Children in Gaza – Stage 7” which is funded by Taawon institute, and Asfari Foundation. The participants were 26 school directors, Deputy Directors of Schools , and counselors from the Ministry of Higher Education.

The opening of the training was in the presence of Ms. Enas Jouda, Head of the Training and Capacity Building Unit at GCMHP, Mr. Qusai Abuodah, Head of Projects and Fundraising Unit and Ms. Abeer Shorafa, Head of the psychology Department at the Ministry of Higher Education.

At the beginning of the training Ms. Jouda welcomed the trainees; stressing on the importance of the mutual cooperation between GCMHP and the Ministry of Higher Education. She added that the training is conducted based on the participant’s needs assessment and it’s considered a continuation for the previous trainings.

Moreover, Mr. Abuodah highlighted  the strategic partnership between the Programme and the Ministry of Higher Education. He spoke about the School Counseling Units project  which aims at providing a suitable environment inside the schools; which continued for more than seven years.

Furthermore, Ms. Shorafa spoke about the project’s goal, the school counseling units, children’s referral mechanism for those who need follow up from GCMHP specialists. She stressed on the importance of this project for schools, counselors, and for the improvement of both the schools and their environments’. Ms. Shorafa thanked the Programme for the services they provide to  help the Palestinian community; hoping that the Programme will target more schools . she added that there are many schools in need for such services and project  due to the hard living conditions the people in Gaza Strip are experiencing which negatively affects the children’s and family’s mental health.   

It’s worth mentioning that the five- day training which consists of 25 hours is considered the beginning of the this project; which aims at enhancing the capacities of the school counselors in providing psychological services to school children, early detection for psychological problems, and introducing the trainees to developing a primary therapeutic plan for similar cases. The training will discuss several important topics including violence against children, its types and negative impact, learning disabilities, play therapy, techniques for behavior modification, case study in addition to the practical training.