Applying Effective People-Helping Intervention Strategies
(Eligible for Skillsfuture Credit)
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Course Overview
What do you do when someone confides in you that he/ she is highly stressed, or when you observed that he/ she tends to isolate himself/ herself from others? How can you help someone who experiences panic attacks before some major events?
Regardless of your work titles and the people groups you work with, this course will be useful for you! People-helpers amongst us like social workers, counsellors, educators and even parents need to move beyond head knowledge about mental conditions, like bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, to provide real practical support to persons-in-need using effective intervention techniques such as butterfly hugs, deep breathing skills and ‘worry-hour’ application.
This workshop teaches you practical yet helpful techniques that you, a layperson without clinical psychological background, can use to help such people. A psychological screening tool and specific intervention strategies to manage symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression will be taught through a variety of approaches. That includes direct teaching, skills practice, group discussion, peer learning and authentic sharing.
Participants are welcome to discuss complex cases they have encountered.
Dr Matthew Woo, a former Senior Principal Clinical Psychologist with the Institute of Mental Health, is the workshop facilitator. Dr Woo has more than 20 years of professional experience and is genuinely passionate about making a positive impact on the mental well-being of people. An articulate and engaging trainer, his sessions are always very well-received.
Dr Woo is also an adjunct professor with the National University of Singapore and UniSIM.
Target Audience
This course is suitable for people-helpers who wish to be equipped with practical and effective techniques to manage and help persons-in-need.
Duration
1 day ( 9 am to 5 pm )
Workshop Topics
Part A : The Work of a People-Helper
Social and family dysfunctions and their impact on a person’s mental wellbeing
Challenges faced by people-helpers
Classification of mental disorders (DSM-5) by the American Psychiatric Association
Workshop focus: Anxiety and Moods Disturbances
Part B : Systemic Assessment and Practical Handles for Interventions
How to use the DASS-21 psychological tool to screen anxiety and moods disturbances
- Teaching its application and practice
- Possible mental disorders identified through result interpretation
- Panic attack symptoms
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder symptoms
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Acute Stress Disorder symptoms
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder symptoms
- Bipolar Disorder symptoms
- Grief symptoms
- Depressive Disorder symptoms
- Relaxation strategies
- Distraction techniques
- Grief Management
- Sleep management
- Cognitive strategies using Thought Record Intervention
Part C : Additional Tools and Resources
Practical and effective resources
Self-care mobile applications
About the Facilitator
Dr Woo is a practicing clinical psychologist with many years of experience in interviewing for personality profile and mental health problems. He was a Senior Principal Clinical Psychologist with the Institute of Mental Health for close to a decade.
Dr Woo sat on a number of scholarship panels which assesses the character, leadership qualities, and stress tolerance of numerous applicants over a span of twenty years. He currently lectures at NUS and UniSIM on an adjunct basis.