SERVICES

The "Help-A-Friend" programme is a sixty minutes session to promote mental health wellbeing and enhance help-seeking behaviour among students. This programme is designed for wing representatives to build their connectedness with their wing mates in the "hall of residence" with the impression that wing representative can help in identifying the fellow students with mental health concerns and refer them for counselling services. This interactive session discusses college student's common life stressors, signs and symptoms of depression, anxiety and psychiatric concerns as well as how to refer someone for professional help.

The programme included one/two role plays on how to help someone who faces a mental health crisis. The Counsellor from the Counseling Centre visits the respective "hall of residence" and conducts the programme. The selected wing representatives prepared by the Warden, Hall President and Institute Wellness Group, will attend the session. The Counselling Centre in conjunction with the Institute Wellness Group organizes "Help-a-friend" session once in a year in the month of Aug-Sep.

This programme brings a good rapport between Counsellor and Students. In our experience with past "Help-a- friend" programmes, students who attended the session approached to the Counselling Centre or referred their friend to the Counselling Centre. CC team welcomes any student from IIT Kharagpur who wishes to attend this programme and can register through the Counselling Centre website. The counselling Centre will intimate the date and place along with the counsellor details for this programme.