IMU PDR Student Club of our university organized a series of public awareness raising events on mental health and psychological well-being called “Psychological Counselors are Everywhere” from September 30 to October 18, 2022. The first part of the events was held by conducting street interviews and distributing brochures in various districts of Istanbul, while the second part consisted of kindergarten awareness activities carried out at Medeniyet Kindergarten run by our university.
The first part of the events aimed to provide an activity about psychological counselors and the field of psychological counseling as an activity to raise public health awareness. Two brochures on psychological counseling were prepared for the activity. At this stage of the event, adults were interviewed and then brochures specially designed for adults were distributed. Within the scope of the activity for adults, IMU PDR Student Group students in groups of two interviewed people in crowded common areas such as Istanbul Medeniyet University, Üsküdar Square, Sultanahmet, and Kadıköy. In the interviews, questions were asked about the separation of occupational groups in the field, mental health, psychological health, psychological well-being, what they know about psychological counselors, which occupational group they would prefer when they wanted to receive psychological support, how they could establish a way for psychological counseling, etc. In the process, information about psychological counselors was shared by leaving out academic terminology. Through the event, information was obtained about what people generally know about psychological counseling, what kind of perspective they have towards psychological counselors, and what metaphors can be formed about psychological counselors.
The second stage of the event aimed to raise awareness among young children on psychological well-being and mental health. In this context, pre-school students in Medeniyet Kindergarten were informed about in which situations they can get help from psychological counselors in their schools. A presentation for children was prepared by the students of IMU PDR Students Group. In the presentation, a story was recited from the story cards related to the subject, and the children were conversed about the subject of the story. In this direction, pre-school students were informed about exactly what psychological counseling is and the duties of school counselors. In addition, brochures about psychological counseling were distributed to pre-school students so that children could better understand the subject.
