By Matters India Reporter
Mangaluru, May 28, 2020: A Mangaluru-based NGO that promotes ecological and mental health has launched an online counseling platform with therapists and counselors spread all over India.
The online portal, “AutumnMind.com,” an initiative of the Ecolink Institute of Well-being of Mangaluru, was opened on May 27 by Veerendra Heggade of Dharmasthala, through a Zoom Conference.
Addressing therapists and counselors from all over India, Heggade, a winner of Padma Vibhushan, India’s second top civilian award, described the service as quite relevant in the present situations.
Heggade, a renowned Indian philanthropist and the hereditary administrator of Karnataka’s Dharmasthala Temple, observed that earlier India had joint families where the elders played the role of counselors and managed the emotional stress among the members.
“But, the situation has changed now with nuclear families that now require emotional support from elsewhere,” added the head of the 800-year-old religious institution in the temple town of Dharmasthala in Dakshina Kannada.
Heggade said he used to sit for hours listening to the problems of common people and devotees in Dharmasthala. All that many wanted was just a compassionate listening. “I wish if many religious and spiritual centers also adopt online counseling for better reach out,” the 71-year-old leader said.
The new service, Autumnmind.com, aims to connect people with emotional problems to qualified and experienced counselors who speak their own language. The portal has psychologists and counselors with master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and years of experience. They are based in New Delhi, Kolkata, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Mangalore and Kerala and speak almost all major Indian languages.
B M Hegde, former vice Chancellor of Manipal University who interacted with the counselors during the Zoom conference, asserted that psychotherapy has become more powerful than medicines in healing patients. “A pat on the back and an empathetic listening reduces heart attacks,” said Hegde, an internationally known cardiologist and a winner of Padmashree, India’s fourth highest civilian award.
Hegde said the relevance of online therapy has increased as it is an effective way to reach out to many through the medium of internet. “If One to One therapy helps, online therapy also should work equally,” the cardiologist.
More than 25 counselors from all over India and abroad took part in the Zoom conference.
Meena Jain, a senior counselor from Bengaluru, observed that online platforms reduces social stigma and could be an effective channel of communication.
Reshma Mallick, an internationally certified addiction counselor from Chennai, observed that easy availability of counselors on internet could result in effective early intervention.
Tanushree Das from New Delhi interacting with Hegde said she felt elated to hear a veteran cardiologist saying counseling and psychotherapy works are better than medicines in healing people.
Thomas Scaria, the managing director of the service who coordinated the conference, said autumn a beautiful season in one’s life and “our mission is to guide people to experience this joy and beauty of the season within themselves through psychological counseling.”
The counselors in the forum will deal with only neurotic cases and not severe mental disorders. Any cases requiring a psychiatric treatment will be referred to a psychiatrist, Scaria said.
Ronnie Thomas, who designed the website, said the autumnmind.com has six sections including parental and child counseling, Addiction Management, Mental health counseling, Relationship Counseling, and special packages like Smartphone addiction, and Spiritual Counseling.