AN OPPORTUNITY FOR INTERNATIONAL SHARING
The pandemic has forced us to live with a great deal of uncertainty. Many people fell apart during the difficult months of lockdown and support lines across the world were jammed as people struggled to cope. But there was also a large number of people who grasped the opportunity to reflect on how they lived their lives. They spent more time with their families, explored different career pathways, learned about psychology or mental health, and asked questions about what really matters as we plan our future.
ESSENTIAL LESSONS
One of the essential lessons that have emerged from living through the pandemic is the importance of mental well-being. The second equally important discovery is that each of us can be vulnerable to stress, emotional pain or just losing it every once in a while. Covid-19 highlighted what we have known even before lockdown that, one in four adults and one in 10 children face mental health challenges every year.
The theme of our second international conference is “living and thriving in the new normal”. It is an opportunity for therapists and people who are interested in mental health to come together and share ideas, network, and learn from experts and each other.
MENTAL HEALTH AT HOME AND AT WORK
The conference is divided into two essential themes; mental health at work and at home. Virtual conferences create a wonderful opportunity for global sharing. Participants are invited to share ideas with other attendees and to add their comments in the chats which will be open throughout the conference.
Change happens when groups of people with similar intent work together. The first conference saw the launch of the international virtual therapy centre by a representative of the Malaysian Ministry of Health. This was an exciting step in a country where there are only 268 government psychiatrists and 43 registered clinical psychologists for an estimated 10 million people with mental health challenges.
AN OPPORTUNITY FOR INTERNATIONAL NETWORKING
In this conference, five presidents from international mental health societies will share their opinions and concerns about mental wellbeing at work and at home. Each talk will include insights and tips that therapists will be able to take away and include in their own therapeutic practice.
The conference starts with a discussion about the rising suicide rates in the new normal. The speaker Dato Dr Mohanraj, president of the Malaysian Mental Health Association is an internationally acclaimed psychiatrist who specialises in disaster management and who is advocating for broader medical insurance cover that allows better access to affordable counseling support.
The second speaker, Ms. Danielle Aitkens is the President of the Australian Hypnotherapists Association. Her talk looks at the impact of stress and anxiety on fertility levels and the role that clinical hypnotherapy plays in addressing this imbalance
Other speakers include Hong Kong psychotherapist and hypnotherapist, Nivedeta Ramanujam, who will provide insights on the impact of post covid stress disorder, and Peter Mabbutt, who is the president of the British Society of Clinical Hypnosis. Peter will provide insights into how virtual therapy can offer a lifeline to someone trapped at home and experiencing domestic abuse.
LIVING AND THRIVING IN THE NEW NORMAL
The conference will cover topics that can profoundly affect literally millions of lives, and which often reduce the capability of these individuals to make it through the day, to sustain relationships, and to maintain work.
International conferences create the opportunity for dialogue and learning from each other. This in turn helps to address the stigma that is still attached to mental health. International forums create an opportunity to explore cultural diversity and this conference will help therapists to gain a better understanding of the different therapeutic approaches that are available to clients.
We can make a difference by being interested, sharing our thoughts and knowledge, and coming together in an increasingly cohesive platform to talk about clinical hypnotherapy and to help the clients and patients we care for both in our current and future practice.