Month: July 2021

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Caring Minds Mental Health 360

Mental Health 360: Break the Stigma, Presented by Caring Minds

Thank you for the wonderful response to ‘Towards Mental Health 360: Break the Stigma’, presented by Caring Minds, in association with CCFC.

Panelists Dr. Manoj R. Shah, MD USA (Board Certified Psychiatrist), Dr. Nalini Juthani, MD USA (Board Certified Psychiatrist), Mukta Nain (Director, Birla High Schools), Bratati Bhattacharyya (Secretary General & CEO, Shikshayatan Foundation), and Chhavi Tewary (Clinical Psychologist, Caring Minds) were in conversation with Minu Budhia (Founder – Caring Minds) & Preeyam Budhia (Head, New Initiatives – Caring Minds).

Categories
Old Age Treatments

Crisis Intervention

Crisis intervention refers to the immediate and direct response provided to individuals or groups experiencing a crisis situation. A crisis is an event or circumstance that poses a significant threat to a person’s psychological, emotional, or physical well-being and overwhelms their coping mechanisms. Crisis intervention aims to provide immediate support, stabilization, and assistance to individuals in distress to help them regain a sense of safety and stability.

Goals:

The primary goals of crisis intervention include ensuring the safety and well-being of the individual in crisis, reducing the intensity of the crisis, restoring the individual’s functioning and coping abilities, and facilitating the individual’s access to appropriate ongoing support or treatment.

Process that takes place in Crisis Intervention:

Crisis assessment
Active listening and empathy
Emotional support
Problem-solving and action planning
Safety assessment and intervention
Follow-up and referral
Crisis intervention can be provided by mental health professionals, counsellors, social workers, hotline volunteers, or emergency personnel, depending on the setting and the nature of the crisis. The approach and techniques used in crisis intervention may vary depending on the individual’s needs, the severity of the crisis, and the available resources.

Categories
Adult Treatments

Image Consultation

Woman checking her skin in the mirror after receiving cosmetic treatment

Image consultation provides a unique and powerful therapeutic approach that taps into the visual and creative aspects of human experience, fostering self-expression, self-awareness, and emotional growth in the context of mental health. It is typically facilitated by mental health professionals, such as therapists, counsellors, or art therapists, who have expertise in both the therapeutic process and the interpretation of visual imagery. The primary aim is to utilize visual images as a therapeutic tool to support individuals in their mental and emotional well-being, promoting self-expression, self-awareness, healing, and personal growth.

Objectives of Image Consultation

  1. Facilitate self-expression: Image consultation aims to provide individuals with a means of self-expression when verbal communication may be challenging or insufficient.
  2. Foster self-awareness and insight: a deeper understanding of their emotions, beliefs, patterns, and experiences.
  3. Support emotional exploration and regulation: By engaging with images that evoke specific emotional responses, individuals can identify and process their emotions, develop emotional awareness, and learn strategies for emotional regulation and self-care.
  4. Encourage narrative construction and reframing: Individuals can explore their life experiences, challenges, and personal growth, while also reframing and reshaping their narratives to promote a more positive or empowering perspective.This post is sponsored by our partners Wigs
  5. Promote healing and growth: Image consultation aims to support individuals in their healing and personal growth journeys. By integrating visual images into therapy, individuals can find new ways to process trauma, work through challenges, identify strengths, and cultivate resilience.
  6. Integrate with other therapeutic modalities: This objective is to complement and enhance the therapeutic process by incorporating visual elements that align with the individual’s treatment goals and needs.
Categories
Adolescent Treatments

Remedial Education

book with green board background

Remedial education is suited for students of average or high intellectual abilities who are struggling in school. Such students usually do not have intellectual challenges but face difficulties in core academic areas of reading, writing and mathematics. It is also suitable for children diagnosed with Specific Learning Disability and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Designed to provide students with individual attention via one-on-one sessions, remedial education not only helps students to learn the skills required to cope with their peers, but also helps build their self-confidence and self-esteem.

Worried that your child may require Remedial Education?

  1. Does your child have trouble coping with their school work?
  2. Does your child consistently score low grades despite studying?
  3. Is your child a slow reader or makes unexpected errors when reading aloud?
  4. Does your child struggle in one area of studies, like reading, writing, or mathematics, performs well in the others?
  5. Does your child have difficulty staying focussed in class?
  6. Does your child find it hard to follow their class teacher’s pace?

Treatments that can help your child:

One-on-one Classes

Psychoeducation

Psychometric Assessment

Attention Training

Categories
Children Treatments

Remedial Education

indian boy child using colourful pencil for drawing or studying with globe and magnifying glass, sitting at white table

Remedial education is suited for students of average or high intellectual abilities who are struggling in school. Such students usually do not have intellectual challenges but face difficulties in core academic areas of reading, writing and mathematics. It is also suitable for children diagnosed with Specific Learning Disability and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Designed to provide students with individual attention via one-on-one sessions, remedial education not only helps students to learn the skills required to cope with their peers, but also helps build their self-confidence and self-esteem.

Worried that your child may require Remedial Education?

  1. Does your child have trouble coping with their school work?
  2. Does your child consistently score low grades despite studying?
  3. Is your child a slow reader or makes unexpected errors when reading aloud?
  4. Does your child struggle in one area of studies, like reading, writing, or mathematics, performs well in the others?
  5. Does your child have difficulty staying focussed in class?
  6. Does your child find it hard to follow their class teacher’s pace?

Remedial Education is suitable for students from classes 7-10 (Arts Subject)

Treatments that can help your child:

One-on-one Classes

Psychoeducation

Psychometric Assessment

Attention Training

Categories
Children Treatments

Shadow Teacher

Indian girl getting coaching in her studies, learning at home with her female teacher

A shadow teacher, also known as a classroom shadow or educational assistant, is a professional who works alongside a student with special educational needs (SEN) in a mainstream classroom setting. The primary goal of a shadow teacher is to provide support to the student with learning or behavioral challenges, helping them integrate and participate more effectively in the regular classroom environment.

Academic Support:

  • Individualized Instruction: A shadow teacher can tailor instruction to meet your child’s specific learning style and pace.
  •  Assistance with Assignments: They can help your child understand and complete assignments, ensuring that the academic material is accessible.

Inclusion in Classroom Activities:

  • Facilitating Participation: The shadow teacher helps your child participate in class activities, discussions, and group work, promoting social interaction and inclusion.
  • Adaptation of Material: They may modify materials and tasks to match your child’s abilities, making the curriculum more accessible.

Behavioral Support:

  • Managing Behaviors: The shadow teacher can assist in managing challenging behaviors by implementing strategies to promote positive behavior and self-regulation.
  • Social Skills Development: They work on developing social skills, helping your child navigate social interactions with peers.Article Sponsored Find something for everyone in our collection of colourful, bright and stylish socks. Buy individually or in bundles to add color to your sock drawer!

Communication and Collaboration:

  • Liaison with Teachers: The shadow teacher communicates regularly with classroom teachers to align strategies, share insights, and ensure consistency in supporting your child’s needs.
  • Collaboration with Parents: They work closely with parents, providing updates on progress, discussing goals, and seeking input to create a holistic support plan.
Categories
Blog

ASK MINU 1.0: ADOLESCENT BEHAVIOUR AND CHILD TECH ADDICTION

Psychotherapist and Counsellor Dr. Minu Budhia (Founder – Director, Carring Minds International) answers your questions on behavioural changes in adolescents and tech addiction in children.

Q. My son is 14. He’s lost interest in his hobbies, his friends, wants to stay alone, and is frequently rude and angry. Please suggest how to handle this situation?

A. It is usual for teenagers to undergo a number of physical, mental, and emotional changes that make them feel awkward, frustrated, unattractive, and misunderstood, leading to low self-esteem and low self-confidence. Lashing out and wanting to stay alone for a small period of time is part of growing up, but if this behaviour has been getting worse for over a month, a positive action to take would be to visit a counsellor.  

Q. My 11-year-old daughter is glued to the screen. She won’t eat, sleep, or do anything without my phone. She even cries, hits, and throws tantrums in public when I don’t give the phone. What should I do?

A. Children today are given phones and tabs from their diaper days. While parents often do this to keep them quiet, still, entertained, and safe in one place, it has undesired side-effects. The ideal way to go about it is to slowly reduce the screen time. Make a routine covering each day of the week and have fixed times where she can use the phone under supervision. Explain that screen time is a privilege and not a 24×7 affair. At all other times keep your internet disconnected or password protected. Children mimic the behaviour of their parents, so actively limit your own time using the phone to set a positive example. When she does follow what you say, reward her with positive experiences instead of material things or food.

Find solutions to your other questions in her column Mind Matters https://minubudhia.com/writer/mind-matters-articles/

Send her your questions on askminubudhia@caringminds.co.in, or tweet them with #AskMinuBudhia

Categories
Courses What's New?

DIPLOMA IN PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELLING

Who is this course for?

This course is for anyone willing to explore him/herself and train under experts in the field to learn the tenets of counselling as a process.

Course Information

  • Duration:- One year
  • Classes held on:- Wednesdays and Fridays 5.30PM to 7.30PM and Sunday 4:00PM to 6:00PM)
  • Blended classes (both offline and online)
  • Registration fee :- Rs. 6,000 (for overseas students Rs.12,000)
  • Total course Fees: Rs. 60,000 (for overseas students Rs. 1,20,000)
  • Terms and conditions applied
  • For Registration contact +91 7980616653 (10:30AM to 6:30PM IST)
  • New batch commences from May, 2025

Course Highlights

  • Centred around providing in-depth knowledge of Human Psychology
  • Special emphasis given on skills and techniques of Counselling
  • Interactive sessions, case discussions and role plays/mock sessions
  • Practice – oriented course with project works
  • Introduction to diagnosis in Counselling
  • Study materials will be provided (soft copies)
  • Recognised by Jadavpur University.

Key Benefits

  • Generating self-awareness.
  • Better understanding of others.
  • Building the basic counselling skills of empathy, acceptance, and unconditional positive regard.
  • Personal growth.

Options for Payment

1. Pay cash/cheque (to CARING MINDS A UNIT OF PATTON FOUNDATION) at Carring Minds International, 54A, Sarat Bose Road, Kolkata-700025. Contact no- +91 33 4950 0900 or mail us at info@caringminds.co.in

2. Online transfer (followed up email to info@caringminds.co.in with the transaction number) to Caring Minds, HDFC Bank, Current Account No. 50200050324370 (31, Chowringhee Road, Park Street, Kolkata- 700016) IFSC Code HDFC0000693

3. All payments made through paytm is subject to acceptance only when the sent money receipt copy is shared either through mail or Whatsapp to 9836403766.

Categories
OLD AGE SCHIZOPHRENIA SPECTRUM DISORDERS

Delusional disorder

Man having headache. Business man standing with stress isolated on studio background. Male half-length portrait. Human emotions, facial expression concept

Delusional disorder is characterized by firmly held false beliefs (delusions) that persist for at least 1 month, without other symptoms of psychosis. The belief can be regarding any usual aspect of the person’s life but is not believed by anyone else except him since it is not true. Delusions in the elderly can take many forms; the most com­mon ones are persecutory-patients believe that they are being spied on, followed poisoned, or harassed in some way. Persons with delusional disorder may become violent toward their supposed persecutors. Some persons lock themselves in their rooms and live reclusive lives. Somatic delusions, in which persons believe they have a fatal illness, also ca occur in older persons. Among those who are vulnerable, delusional disorder can occur under physical or psychological stress and can be precipitated by the death of a spouse, loss of a job, retirement, social isolation, adverse financial circumstances, debilitating medical illness or surgery, visual impairment, an deafness.

Delusional disorder is distinguished from schizophrenia by the presence of delusions without any other symptoms of psychosis (eg, hallucinations, disorganized speech or behavior, negative symptoms). Delusional disorder may arise from a preexisting paranoid personality disorder. In such people, a pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others and their motives begin in early adulthood and extend throughout life.

Early symptoms may include the feeling of being exploited, preoccupation with the loyalty or trustworthiness of friends, a tendency to read threatening meanings into benign remarks or events, persistent bearing of grudges, and a readiness to respond to perceived slights.

Worried that you / your loved one may be suffering from Delusional Disorder?

Since the past 1 month or more,

  1. Do you tend to get angry or frustrated very easily?
  2. Do you feel that your thoughts tend to get fixed in your mind and you can’t get your mind off them?
  3. Do you feel that your thoughts have a definite impact on others as though you can control things or ‘do things’ with your thoughts?
  4. Do you feel that your thoughts, feelings and actions are being controlled by someone else?
  5. Do you believe that other people can read your mind, or you can read others’ minds?
  6. Do you find it difficult to relate to other people and trust them?

If you have said yes to most of the above, we might be able to help you.

Treatments we can help you with:

Medication

Counselling

Psychometric Assessment

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy

Family Therapy

Categories
EMOTIONAL ISSUES

Bereavement or Grief

Portrait of upset old man covering face while crying. Isolated on grey background

Older adults experience loss at an accelerated rate due to changes in physical ability, health, living situation, and the deaths of close friends and loved ones. These losses are unbelievably hard to cope with, especially when more than one is experienced at a time. Losing one’s spouse, relative, or friend can be difficult to process. The people who we are close to play a major part in our lives and leave a vacuum when they leave. The period of bereavement is a stressful life event for anyone. Each person will experience bereavement in different ways and reactions to bereavement are strongly influenced by culture and ethnicity. Mourning a death for a days, weeks, or a few months is quite natural, but when it continues beyond this period and begins to interfere with one’s day to day functioning, one might need some extra support and professional help to come out of it. Elderly individuals losing their spouse or children are especially vulnerable and need various degrees of help and support.

Counselling lends a helping hand to the individual during the grieving process to help them walk through the five stages of grief – Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance. The stages are not necessarily linear and one may revisit a stage or two or be unable to move beyond a particular stage. Seeking professional help can help give him/her a space to process his/her grief.

Worried that your loved one or you are having trouble dealing with bereavement?

  1. Do you repeatedly hear or see the loved one who has passed away?
  2. Have you had thoughts like you would be better off dead, or of hurting yourself in some way?
  3. Are you unable or unwilling to be emotional or feeling numb?
  4. Are you having trouble falling or staying asleep, or are sleeping too much?
  5. Are you experiencing reduced appetite, overeating, or considerable weight changes?
  6. Have you been avoiding meeting friends and family for an extended period of time?

If you have said yes to most of the above, we might be able to help you.

Treatments that can help you or your loved one:

Psychometric Assessment

Counselling

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Crisis Intervention

Interpersonal Therapy

Family Therapy

Medication (if needed)

About Carring Minds International

Carring Minds International is an OPD Mental Health Clinic. It is the first of it’s kind, state-of-the-art, multi-speciality institute of mental health in Eastern India. Sprawling across 8000 sq. ft, this one-stop shop houses a diverse team of seasoned professionals who provide their expert services to all issues related to the mind, both clinical and non-clinical under one roof. It caters to all age groups from children to the elderly.

About Carring Minds International

Tuesday to Saturday: – 10 am – 7 pm Sunday: – 11 am – 6 pm
Caringminds
54A, Sarat Bose Road, Kolkata – 700025 | +91 9836403766 | +91 7044426035 Landline: +91 33 3544 0939 | Toll Free: 1800-891-3021 | Email: info@caringminds.co.in