Stress and Anger Management Workshop July 26th to July 29th 2008

Various topics were covered in the workshop that increased one's awareness of personal stressors and the triggers of anger and stress. Participatory learning techniques like exercises, games were used to overcome stress and anger.

Yoga, creative movements and relaxation techniques were some of the strategies used to overcome stress.

Some of the feedback from the participants was

“The workshop was excellent ..I have no words to express….. I learnt to maintain and stay calm, live without stress and some points (tips) for that was very useful, Self care, handling of critical situation, excellent guided imaginary, modern yoga , balanced diet and its necessity was great. It was a great opportunity to analysis everything with Ms. Magdalene. … I liked the methodology … Hospitality and everything was in the top most position. …But I felt that the workshop was short …..” – Shiva kumar, Sangama, Chennai

“This workshop was very good and very useful for life…. The few points I learnt was what is stress? How it affects us, What is anger and how it affects us. .. Ho w to handle stress…… Importance of exercises…... .. How to solve problems………..The games and activities in the workshop was very good and very useful………The food was very good and the training space was very good……… everything was good and it was very useful and important personally to me………..” – Sundar , Sahodaran, Chennai

Mrinalini Sekar Life style Management consultant facilitated the creative movement session

Some of the feedback were

• Activities were very deep and lots of emotions came out, it could have been nice if one issue is discussed among stress. (Just a suggestion)
• Theory about morning session was very very important. Tips about food, diet, exercise were very informative.
• Very intense and internal thinking triggers with activities, so as a therapist how to take care.
• On the whole Stress and Anger was released and thought provoking.

- Geethu Pappu, Chennai

• The session was wonderful on lifestyle management. The importance of physical fitness was well explained. Especially the lifestyle clouds exercise was wonderful; it made me realize my stress points.... Simple exercises were thought (Easy practice at home).

- Mohan Babu, Hoper's Foundation

Managing Adolescence - One day workshop for Children from the World Vision Project in Chennai. 19 July 2008

This one day workshop on managing adolescence was a participatory workshop. We had a number of activities that taught young people to be assertive, to do critical thinking, making assessment of a situation, making decisions, being creative, introspection while having a lot of fun. The participants were between the ages of 12 to 16. There were almost 100 adolescent girls from various communities in Chennai. 

 

The session was led by Mrinalini Sekar and assisted by Thamilarasi and Magdalene Jeyarathnam.

 

At the end of the day the children gave feedback about how they felt and how they enjoyed the activities. Some simple exercises on managing pain during menstruation were also taught to the children.  The young people completely enjoyed all the activities and asked for more such days of fun and learning.

 

Some of the activities were

 

Activity	Learning
Warm up
who am I	Identifying self. Defining oneself
Mirroring	I am a reflection of so many influences. Towards identifying my unique self
Lead with a body part	Open your mind to possibilities – not to be blocked by the straight and narrow – creative thinking
Exercises to combat woman-specific and gynaec issues	To emphasize that they should talk to someone responsible Ways of managing their physical pain Very often adolescent girls may experience pain or if meet with an accident or fallen down.
Wind	Realization of adaptation of self to every relationship( mother, family/,friend)
Toe-chalk	Identification of emotion is necessary step to solution Creative thinking and lateral thinking  Interpretation of the individual drawing was done within the group and there was a lot of emotional ventilation.
Me and my space	Learning to set limits; to say an emphatic NO Building a house  Being assertive, and the right to say no if you don’t like what somebody doing in your house
Relaxation and breathing exercises	Identifying avenues for frustration release
Trust Building	Dealing with the complex emotions of trust
Naming the Dance	Help children who are shy to be bold enough, creative and lateral thinking Fun way of decision making
Free dance	Party time
Cool down

Day Four - Certificate distribution

The certificates were distributed by Dr Vijay Edward and Mr Christopher Baskar from World Vision National Office.  

The group gave their feedback and discussed if their expectations were met.

Overall it was a very satisfying workshop.

Day Three

The morning session was on Art therapy. All the participants enthusiastically participated in all the exercises in painting, drawing and using charcoal. This session was lead by Magdalene Jeyarathnam our founder.

The afternoon session was on dance/ movement therapy - this session was lead by Mrinalini Sekhar. The participants did some very interesting exercises which got them to think about themselves. 

Child Centered Counselling Approaches for Children Workshop, July 16th Day Two

Drama Therapy - Day Two

Drama therapy is an expressive therapy modality used in a wide variety of setting. The use of dramatic process and theatre as a therapeutic intervention began with psychodrama.

Ms. G. Chandra – Theatre artist, facilitated the session. She led us through various exercises. We discussed different children games and choosing appropriate games and activities for children depends on the issues of children. All the participants enjoyed their day very much.

Child Centered Counselling Approaches for Children Workshop , July 15th - July 18th 2008

Workshop - Day one

We had 7 participants coming from the World Vision Projects, 3 participants from Positive Women's network sponsored by World Vision, 2 participants from Child Haven and 1 from Hopers Foundation.

With such an interesting mix of participants the session went off very well. The resource person for the day was Mr Eric Miller, Professor - Image Animation College and the Founder of the World Storytelling Institute. You can read more about the World Storytelling Institute on the following website - www.storytellinginstitute.org

By the end of the day participants practiced their skills of telling stories to children.

Participants List

S.No	Name of the Participant	Name of the Organization	Contact number/ Email ID
1.	Ezekiel	World Vision India Bangalore OVC Project, No.815, IVth B cross First Block , HRBR Lay Out Kalyan Nagar Bangalore – 43	ezekiel.wvi@gmail.com/ 09886290410
2.	Clement	World Vision India , 16 VOC Main road Kodambakkam Chennai - 24	clement_timothy@wvi.org/ 9840970780
3.	Julian	World Vision India Bangalore OVC Project, No.815, IVth B cross First Block , HRBR Lay Out Kalyan Nagar Bangalore – 43	julianiwvi@aol.com/ 09731056507
4.	Lydia	World Vision India Bangalore OVC Project, No.815, IVth B cross First Block , HRBR Lay Out Kalyan Nagar Bangalore – 43	lydia_msw@rediffmail.com/ 09900861784
5.	Rechal	World Vision India, ADP Bellary, Vidhya Giri Colony Club Road Bellary – 4	rechal77@rediffmail.com
6.	Varun	World Vision India, GHAP Postal Colony , Third Line Guntur Andhar Pradesh	veedhi27@gmail.com/ 09908055891
7.	Ramesh	World Vision India, GHAP Postal Colony , Third Line Guntur Andhar Pradesh	nancygrace_2@yahoo.co.in/ 09949606627
8.	Bailey	Child Heaven International(India) Kaliayam poodi village Kancheepuram District	044-27292921
9.	Padmanaban	Child Heaven International(India) Kaliayam poodi village Kancheepuram District	044-27292921
10.	Mohan Babu	Hopers Foundation No.67, Thiruvengadam Street Perambur Chennai-11	morganrhymes@yahoo.com junkiesunion@gmail.com 9962278606
11.	Meena	Positive Women Network , Santhosh Seruvar Maiyam Melatheru Melur Madurai Dist	09751580853
12.	Mekala.J	No.6, 5th Cross Street Rajalakshmi Nagar Velacherry Chennai - 42	mekala_wv@yahoo.co.in/ 09444479591
13.	Sumathi.Y	Positive Women Network, Metu Theru, Ishwarya Golden Flats Iyanavaram Chennai	09381172952

LGBTQ Peer-Counselling Training Initiative, July 13 2008

The Shakti Center's LGBTQ Peer-Counselling Training Initiative - 13 July 2008

The session was held in the Center for Counselling office on Radhakrinshnan Salai, Mylapore. This session was the fourth in the series focussing on peer-counselling issues related to transgender women. Many transgender women participated in the session. Issues regarding the need for counselling were discussed. Everyone in the group shared there personal experiences, there was a lot of emotional ventilation among the group.

Sankari from Center for Counselling facilitated the session.

Some of the Issues that transgender women face was discussed. For example:

• Feeling rejected ( family / self)
• Livelihood options
• Marriage / Relationships
• Peer Pressure
• SRS – Surgery
• Gender related questions
• Health

We felt by the end of the day, that places where transgender women could go for counselling or services that empowered them was very limited. Center for Counselling offered their services to transgender women who would like to seek counselling services. Sankari our full time counsellor and counselling trainer is available as a counsellor along with Magdalene Jeyarathnam.