Family support matters
Counselling helps man’s state of mind
DO not lose hope if you are facing mental health issues. These are the words of a 40-year-old man who faced mental health issues as a result of his alleged abuse of alcohol and drugs.
He ended up living on the streets of an urban centre in the Western Division before connecting with his family members again.
While counselling helped change his mindset, the sessions also made way for him to reconnect with his family and regain their trust.
Being an NGO focusing on providing counselling and social work support, Empower Pacific has been dealing with different types of clients with various presenting issues affecting their mental health and life as a whole.
The man, whom we shall call client, was recently told by a doctor in the Western Division during his clinic to seek counselling from Empower Pacific.
The referral was made based on the long-term partnership between the NGO and the Ministry of Health & Medical Services.
The partnership looks at a collaborative approach in providing holistic care to people for mental health and psychosocial wellbeing.
Going back to the client’s story, he believed that he was not at peace at home because there was excessive noise and it deteriorated his state of mind.
As a result, he ended up living on the streets of the urban centre, claiming that he found peace there.
In the first counselling session, counsellor Aarti Akaansha found out that the client had a whole range of issues affecting him – from his family, finance, mental health to accommodation.
Ms Akaansha conducted a family facilitation session following the client’s consent, which enabled open discussions with members of the family to find ways to support him.
It was ascertained that the client was initially staying with his family who supported him, but this changed because of his alleged indulgence in alcohol and drugs that resulted in a change in his behaviour.
He allegedly used to become aggressive and violent towards the family members, which resulted in them distancing themselves from him.
Things had got to such an extent that they even took out a domestic violence restraining order (DVRO) against him.
But despite this, the family considered supporting him as he was still a loved family member, so they arranged for someone to stay with him and look after him.
During the counselling sessions, the client said he was finding difficulty in explaining issues to his family members, who did not understand what he was going through mentally.
His family members, who supported him, did not know that he was living on the streets as they believed that he was at home and with the people they had arranged to look after him.
Ms Akaansha said the client received social welfare assistance because of his situation.
“His family has started visiting him and building up on that trust with the view to give him one more chance to change,” she said.
After the counselling sessions, the client said it had helped him feel better as he could talk to someone and share his problems and feel less burdened mentally.
“I was living on the streets, but now I’m back at home after talking to my family. It has helped me stabilise my mind and mood,” he said.
“I was lost before, but counselling has helped me a lot. It’s for good guidance as we never know when things can change in life. I’m at peace in my mind now.
“Don’t lose hope if you are facing mental health problems because we have counselling centres such as Empower Pacific to guide us in the right way.”
The client has encouraged people facing mental health illnesses to take their medication on time, seek counselling and do some exercise to help relax the mind.
He also said that family support matters in a person’s life as it helps a person mentally too.
“Even though I have to face things alone now, I’m waiting for things to get better,” he said.
Empower Pacific has a 24/7 toll-free counselling helpline 5626 which is supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade.
Instead of bottling things up, do not hesitate to call 5626 and talk to a qualified counsellor should you or someone you know need counselling.
His family has started visiting him and building up on that trust with the view to give him one more chance to change
– Empower Pacific counsellor Aarti Akaansha
■ AVINESH GOPAL is the communications and media officer for Empower Pacific.