After years of domestic violence and physical abuse at the hand of her husband, who struggled with addition, Rita* was experiencing headaches, insomnia, feelings of aggression, restlessness, and interpersonal conflict. Her husband would often insult her in front of his family and their neighbors and would even threaten to kill her. In addition to all this, the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic was causing her anxiety and increasing conflict in her family.

A workshop for upgrading psychosocial counsellors

Rita came to a clinic for treatment and was referred to a counsellor who is currently being trained with IAM to become a Health Social Counsellor. In the first session, she learned about what Coronavirus is and how she could eat and rest to control her anxiety about Coronavirus. One week later, she returned to the clinic and shared about her family members’ behavior, and how she could not control her emotions. The counsellor was then able to share about different ways of coping and getting resources, so Rita could learn about how to control her aggression and misbehavior. In the following weeks When she returned for her third session, she was happy because she could speak with her father in-law about the problems, and they were able to work through the problems together.

Now after few weeks, she can see improvement in the treatment plan and her family was also able to convince her husband to go to clinic for treatment of his addiction.

In her fourth session, she came with a smile on her face. She said, “Now I think I live in a good family. They have changed their behavior with me and my children.” After 16 long years, her husband decided to quit drugs, and she was truly optimistic about the changes happening in their lives.

How IAM’s Mental Health Program brought changes in Rita’s life? For finding more information about our click here!

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