Media Release

Mangaluru, Jan 22: Psychology has been one of the most fascinating fields of science. People have started reaching out for counseling and therapy to cope with life events and enhance their well-being, triggering a growing demand for mental health care workers, professionals, counselors, therapists and researchers. The COVID-19 has also exposed the need and demand for mental health care professionals in the country.

The department of Counselling of St Aloysius Pre-University College organized a webinar on ‘Careers in Mental Health’ – a road-map to careers in Psychology and Mental Health.

The resource person was Dr Shailaja Shastri, a renowned psychologist and a veteran in the field of Psychology, who served for the last 36 years in academia and is an advocate for the cause of mental health and education. She is the founder and director at Training and Research Initiatives (TRI), a psychological solutions and mental health resource hub in Bengaluru.

Dr Shastri brought under her ambit all the thoughts that a potential mental health professional encounters before taking up higher studies in Psychology. Dr Shastri gave a gist of what the field really is- relevance and scope, various courses, career options and opportunities one has at their disposal. She also reflected on the skills needed to be an effective therapist. She later addressed the questions raised by the participants.

Sangeeta Sequeira, a student counsellor welcomed and introduced the speaker. The interactive webinar concluded with a vote-of-thanks by Meghana Saladanha, lecturer (in Psychology). The session was moderated by Sanjeeth Rodrigues, a student counsellor. Dr Judy Pinto from the Counseling department was also present.

Over 200 participants from St Aloysius PU College as well as from other institutions from different parts of India participated in the webinar.