New Delhi: On October 26, 2010, R K Srivastava, Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, launched the Indira Gandhi National Open University’s (IGNOU) orientation programme. As per sources, the programmes have been designed for Coordinators and Academic Counselors of Master of Science (M Sc) in Counseling and Family Therapy.
Further, sources told that these programmes are being synchronized by IGNOU's National Centre for Disability Studies (NCDS) and School of Continuing Education (SOCE) jointly. The function was attended by the Directors of NCDS and SOCE. Adarsh Sharma, Former Director, NIPCCD, was the Guest of Honor, sources added.
Mr. Srivastava said that 1.8 percent of the population in the country is suffering from mental illness. According to WHO, 14-18 percent of population suffers from psychosomatic problems. Moreover, he said that the country requires 2 crore professionals, because any disability affects the whole family. This type of programme will plug the gap in the area.
However, Mr. Sharma said that family therapy came to India 15 years ago, and till date, the numbers of family therapists is too few to tackle the problems being faced by people, due to marital discord, alcoholism, mental illness etc. NIMHANS offers 2-3 months orientation programmes in this area, he told the sources.
As per sources, focus on the applied aspect and the thrust on opportunities for hands-on experience for the learners is one of the features of the new programme. In addition, sources told that half the credits of this programme are assigned for application oriented learning opportunities.
Moreover, sources informed that the students have the option to be educated in Marital and Family Therapy, Child and Adolescent Counseling and Therapy, or Substance Abuse Counseling and Therapy, in the second year of the programme.
