AAKALAN

For course enquiries contact
Ms. Roopa More - Cell : 9870600283

AAKALAN Head- Dr Geeta Joshi

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Aakalan : Concept

Aakalan is learning Centre of IPH with a slogan of ' Revealing Insights' & tries to reach out to not only mental health professionals but also to individuals & groups that are working 'with people'. Aakalan offers short term courses on mental health themes & also opportunities for observership budding mental health professionals. ....

• IPH has always been a place for learning for many mental health professionals
• Continuous stream of observers & students, not only from this country but also from abroad.
• Recognized as agency for post-graduate training & field-work by Universities
• Aakalan evolved as a nodal center to provide educational and training inputs.

Its objectives include

• Reaching out to more people with insights
• Establishing integrated therapy practices
• Expanding IPH's role formally as "Knowledge Imparters"

Regular Courses

• Certificate course in Communication and Counselling Skills for Helping Professional
• Career Guidance Programme for graduates in Mental Health – Frontiers in Mental Health
• REBT
• Teachers Sensitization Programme
• SWINDIA –Indo Swedish Project –Training Programme for Social work Graduates from Sweden on Mental Health Care Delivery in India
• CME –for Psychiatry residents on life after residency
• CME for Psychology Postgraduates on Psychometric Testing
• Counselling Skill Enhancement for Crèche Caregivers
• Onsite Teacher and Student Mentoring Programme

Aakalan – IPH’s Learning Center for Knowledge and Excellence

The mission statement of IPH is “Mental Health for All". In pursuit of its goal, IPH would like to consider itself as a laboratory of community mental health, a place where competent service, community participation and creative education go hand in hand. IPH has been conducting innovative programs and projects in the field of mental health over the last 20 years. Students and professionals alike have visited IPH and have been introduced to and greatly benefitted by these programs This learning has been experiential and informal, and in the process, many structured learning models have emerged. Through Aakalan, its learning initiative, IPH makes an effort to integrate these proven models and consolidate the learning process into a system and reach out and benefit maximum people. The literal meaning of Aakalan is understanding, appreciating or internalizing.

The Aakalan project is a proactive effort and aims to structuralize what IPH can teach. The main thrust of Aakalan is on teaching, learning and skill training for everyone in the vocation of mental health. IPH is sensitive to the changing social trends and needs and the teaching modules are prepared taking account of these perspectives. The teaching pattern will predominantly stress on skill set acquisition and skill set enhancement and will focus on a balanced approach of theoretical inputs and practical training. In imparting this knowledge, Aakalan strives to reach out to as many service providers as possible – academic and non-academic, professional and non-professional through various need-based training programs. The target of these programs would be ‘demystifying mental illness’ and through these different endeavors, Aakalan aims at reaching as close as possible, IPH’s vision “Mental Health for All”

Aakalan was launched in October 2007 during the World mental health week and since then has evolved as a nodal centre to provide educational and training inputs. Its aim and focus is in providing post graduate training in skill management and skill enhancement in mental health care delivery. Since then, IPH’s learning center has imparted training to mental health professionals like psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers; non mental health professionals like GPs, other medical specialists and nurses and students pursuing mental health professions. Other stake holders like teachers and trainee teachers, community volunteers, caregivers and members of self help groups also have been through training programs to get sensitized to various issues in mental health. IPH has also played host to a number of foreign students and mental health professionals who have not only shared and contributed to the learning but also taken home insights from their experiences and interactions.

Aakalan Training Programs:

Aakalan training program schedules vary from one-day workshops (6hours) and weekend trainings to courses offering up to 50, 80 or even 100 hours of hands-on practical training. The faculty list includes resource persons from the in-house IPH team, and whenever necessary, guest faculty is invited to share their domain knowledge and expertise in their subjects. All the training programs are charged. The fee structure for each type of training is worked out as per the logistics and varies for different training programs. The venue for the training is the IPH premises. Nevertheless, whenever there is a request from the trainee group, or the number of participants is too large to be accommodated in the IPH premises, onsite training facilities are provided by the IPH team

The type of training offered by Aakalan:

• IPH Staff Development programs through workshops or Lecture series
• Career guidance in Mental health- Workshops for Final year Graduate students to help them decide on their future goals and career options
• SWINDIA – A Swedish-India collaborative initiative brings graduate students from Sweden to IPH twice a year, where they are introduced to mental health care delivery through various teaching modalities.
• Training workshops for PG students through CMEs and Refresher Courses for Psychiatrists / Psychologists on clinical topics and psychometric testing
• Training GPs and other medical specialists through Mental Health Awareness programs
• Community Outreach initiatives through
  1. Marriage Counseling Workshops for Premarital and Marital Counseling and also Parents / In-laws / Well- wishers of Prospective Grooms / Brides
  2. Parent & Teacher Sensitization for Academic, Emotional and Behavioral Problems in Children
  3. Parent Sensitization Workshops on Communicating with and Understanding Adolescents and
  4. Counseling Workshop on Parenting and Counseling Skills for Crèche Care-givers
• Counselling Skill Training courses are also offered. These are
  1. REBT course: 48 – 50 hours of training for 8 days ( 4 weekends spread over 3 months)
  2. Advanced REBT course for Disorder and Distress specific issues like Addictions, Anxiety, Depression and Grief, Anger including inputs for REBT in Parenting and Marriage Counseling and
  3. Certificate course for Basic Communication and Counseling Skills in Helping Professions
• Onsite training workshops for
  1. students on relationship building
  2. teacher –student mentoring
  3. primary and secondary teacher sensitization for learning difficulties in children
  4. communication skills for nursing students
  5. counseling skills for community health workers for TISS outreach initiative
  6. training dental surgeons on doctor-patient communication for IDA
  7. Teacher Sensitization Workshops for the CSR initiative of Cipla Pharma for Municipal and ZP teachers
• As part of the learning, training initiative and sensitization of mental health students, Aakalan encourages educational visits to IPH, to understand its philosophy and working culture . A one-day student educational visit from students belonging to various institutes have become a regular and yearly affair. Nursing students from various nursing schools in Mumbai and Pune, PG students in Psychology and Social Work from Mumbai and Pune, and UG Psychology students are regular visitors.
• Aakalan also offers internship / observership programs to enhance learning These internships are charged. Internships offered for qualified psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, remedial educators, speech and occupational therapists. A 3-month learning period is encouraged to begin with, but students can opt to continue. Interns get to observe the functioning of IPH, and can interact and learn from the clinical team. They can avail of the library facilities.

Note: Interns do not interact with any client. Internship is offered only to students from UGC recognized Universities. There is no promise of a job placement after internship. IPH does not offer student placement during field work during curriculum studies.

Some Plans for the coming year

Regular workshops in REBT, advanced REBT course, Course in Basic Communication and Counseling Skills, Psychometry workshops for Psychologists, Child and Adolescent Counseling workshops, Programs for Budding Psychiatrists with 3-5 years of private practice. The educational visits and internship programs will continue. SWINDIA initiative is a regular feature on the IPH calendar.