Message as Dominica observes World Mental Health Day

Members of the Dominica Psychological Association visited the resettlement area of the people from Dubique in Grand Bay on the weekend
Members of the Dominica Psychological Association visited the resettlement area of the people from Dubique in Grand Bay on the weekend

According to the World Health Organization, World Mental Health Day is observed on the 10th of October with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health.

The Day provides an opportunity for all stakeholders working on mental health issues to talk about their work, and what more needs to be done to make mental health care a reality for people worldwide (WHO, 2016).

The theme for this year’s’ World Mental Health Day is Dignity in Mental Health: Psychological first aid for all. This theme draws attention to those persons who are in the front line during a crisis and are the first to provide psychosocial support.

Crisis situations involving sudden loss and trauma occurs in all communities and include situations such as motor vehicle accidents, domestic violence, abuse, sudden deaths, and natural disasters. The potential for mental health and psychosocial consequences increases in persons exposed to these crisis events. Some of these adverse effects include mood and anxiety disorders, increased substance use, general psychological distress, and impairments in social functioning. Thus, it is important for persons involved in a crisis to receive immediate psychological and social support to alleviate the negative consequences of the trauma event.

In Dominica, members of the Dominica Psychological Society (DPS) have been in the forefront in providing psychological first aid. Members were involved in providing psychosocial support after the passage of Tropical Storm Erika. This support was not only given to the victims and their family but also to the first responder agencies such as the Police and Fire Ambulance Service and the Red Cross. Additionally, through their work in various agencies, members of the society are involved in other crisis events such as domestic abuse, child abuse, and sudden deaths.

The Dominica Psychological Society established in October 2015 with the aim of bringing more awareness to the need for psychological support in Dominica’s society continue to work on meeting this objective.

The society has established a phone line through the kind compliments of DIGICEL, to give persons immediate access to a psychologist or counsellor during a crisis event. Persons calling this phone line will either receive crisis counselling or be referred to a psychological professional for more in-depth therapy.

The phone line operates on a call back service to ensure that there is no cost to the caller. The DPS phone line is 767-612-0586.

On Saturday October 8th, members of the Dominica Psychological Society (DPS) visited the resettlement area of the people from Dubique in Grandbay.

The main objective was related to this year’s World Mental Health Day Theme “Dignity in Mental Health: Psychological and Mental Health First Aid for All”.

As part of this out reach project, the members provided the residents with house numbers for their homes and also did psychosocial support activities with them. This outreach project was done with the partnership of The Sign Man and other private companies including Jolly’s Pharmacy, Ruben’s Bakery and ACS Supermarket.

DPS will continue to work with the community of Dubique and will also begin Psychological and Mental Health First Aid with the Haitian population here in Dominica, in respect to the devastation Hurricane Matthew did in Haiti.

The Dominica Psychological Society consists of:

Dr. Shani Shillingford
President DPS
Clinical/Educational Psychologist

McMillan Cuffy
Vice President
Counselling Psychologist

Adella David
Secretary
Counselling Psychologist

Carole Soto
Treasurer
Counselling Psychologist

Lesley-Ann Waldron
Public Relations Officer
Clinical Psychologist

Lester Guye
Assistant Secretary/Treasurer
Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology

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3 Comments

  1. ooops
    October 11, 2016

    Does it matter Rocks? Skerrit is doctor too so Vince hendo Dr.Philbert Aarons Dr.Dr.Dr Go see ONE FLEW OVER THE COOCOONS NEST LO lol so where was Dr.Benjie is he not considered in Da?

  2. Rocks
    October 10, 2016

    I seeing one individual addressed by Dr. but a bunch of counseling PSYCHOLOGIST. Is that accurate? Are the other individuals Psychologist?

    • Tina Alexander
      October 10, 2016

      In the Dominica Psychology Society there are different levels of membership, To be called a Clinical Psychologist you must have a longer training than those of us with a Masters in Counselling Psychology. You will find that most of us with a Masters call ourselves Counsellors or Counselling Psychologists.

      Those who have an Associates degree or even a Bachelors in Psychology may not have had any training in counselling practice and should not, in my view, call themselves Counsellors.

      The DPS has a list of qualified counsellors who have specialist areas such as children, addiction, mental illness, victim support, terminal illness etc.

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