VARANASI Committed to the overall development of its students and staff, Banaras Hindu University has implemented a series of measures for their academic, professional, emotional, as well as psychological well-being. The university assumes utmost importance to the psychological health and wellness of its fraternity, which is a crucial factor in their overall upliftment as well as the growth of the institution. Leading by example, BHU is now all set to launch from the upcoming session, its Psychological Wellbeing Service to cater to all the psychological wellbeing issues of students, faculty, employees, and their family members in the phased manner. The university has made a comprehensive plan in that regard. For the purpose, the varsity is imparting 90-day professional training to 15 psychology students selected as interns under the Dr. Sarvepalli Radha Krishnan Internship scheme, who have completed their PG diplomas from BHU. The training called ‘Vishwakarma – The Skilled Counselor’, aims to train and groom them into skilled counselors who are able to provide desired guidance and direction.
The training is being imparted by external industry experts from ‘Manas – The Inside Story’, an organization working for transformation through psychological self-awareness. During the program, participants are being trained on various aspects that are important for successful and effective functioning of the Psychological Wellbeing Service. These include Person Centered Philosophy in Action, Person Centered Skills, Systems and Processes of Psychological Wellbeing Services, and Integrated Skills pertaining to Student Counseling, among others. The service will be steered from the office of the Dean of Students.
Prof. Anupam Kumar Nema, Dean of Students, stated that there are various types of psychological confusions prevalent in the society, that compromise the mental health of today’s youth. The commencement of such services at BHU will go a long way to address these dynamic psychological challenges. He said the initiative is also in line with the New Education Policy 2020, which lays a greater focus on psychological wellbeing.
Commander (Retd.) Sayantan Sanyal, Advisor, Student Welfare, BHU, informed that the initiative is in accordance with Vice-Chancellor Prof. Sudhir Kumar Jain’s commitment towards overall wellbeing of the university fraternity. He said that the Psychological Wellbeing Service is expected to be a key measure in this direction.
