Live Online Session on Teachers Mental Health was a Hit with Attendees

Asian College of Teachers conducted a stimulating CPD live online session on 'Mental Health and Counselling for Teachers' on 6th August, 2022 which was facilitated by Dr Anita Jain, MBBS, MRCGP (INT), a family physician with special interest in child health and preventive medicine. She trained as a doctor at KEM Hospital in Mumbai and has done her Master's in Health Administration from the University of Michigan. The live online session explored the mental health and counselling for teachers which has become a concern area for 21st century teachers. They feel the need to take care of their mental health and well-being. As schools have already reopened, there could be a million things on the minds of the teachers, be it the ways to engage learners or to help them with transition. The session focused on the fact that teachers' stress and anxiety have soared of late and are becoming easily burned out especially post pandemic. The toll on teachers is acute and they are in dire need to take care of their mental health; and to do that they must be aware of the factors that are influencing it and how to prevent the triggers.

The online workshop conducted by Dr Jain, the founder and lead trainer of Heartbeats First Aid, emphasised areas like 'What is mental health and what factors influence it?', 'Stress, depression and anxiety', 'Recognize and prevent suicide and self-harm', 'Mental health first aid action plan: using case studies', 'Sleep and Screens', 'Strategies to help young people thrive' etc. The key focus remained on making teachers aware of the trigger factors and to develop the understanding of mental wellbeing.