IILM University Organizes an Expert Session on Mental Health and Positive Psychology by Dr. Samir Parikh

The Centre of Emotional Intelligence and Department of Psychology at IILM University Gurugram hosted Dr. Samir Parikh, an eminent Psychiatrist and the Director of Department of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences, Fortis Healthcare for a session on Mental Health and Positive Psychology. Dr. Parikh spoke about the how mobile technology has impacted the mental health of youngsters today. He encouraged the budding psychologist students in the audience to focus on strengths of people instead of weaknesses. Dr. Parikh threw light on how community interaction played a key role as an advocate and ambassador of mental health awareness and how every budding mental health expert needs to be ethical, a social activist and a role model even in their personal space.

Being the motivator that he is, Dr Parikh emphasized the importance of reading and being updated by the recent literature. He motivated the audience to gain as much knowledge as possible and study during their tenure as students. He focused on the genuine pursuit of knowledge to build a strong base in the life, which is so very essential for every aspiring psychologist. He shared statistics on the need for competent psychologists and counsellors due to the non-availability of qualified experts. He said that unqualified quacks are in huge numbers in our country. He explained how there is a 300% shortage of psychologists and mental health professionals in India, and this nature of deficit is a huge opportunity as well as a responsibility for psychology students. He also shared how young psychologists today are too focused on pen and paper inventories rather than actually communicating with their patients. According to him, the human component to psychology is very important. There is a need to explore and observe rather than being restricted to the boundaries of the classrooms and otherwise taught theoretical knowledge. Discussions and exchanges between students and professionals are important rather than working in isolation. The students got a lot of insight on what to do and expect as budding psychologists.