Counselling is not a sign of failure, says Yeoh

Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh.

SUBANG: Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh says her ministry is seeking to de-stigmatise counselling and to make the provision of such services mainstream.

More often that not, she said, going for counselling was viewed as a sign that a person had problems. She highlighted the need to start talking about counselling in a positive manner instead.

“For us (in the ministry), we want to ensure that counselling is mainstream – that people will feel comfortable going for counselling.

“Going for counselling is a sign of failure for some people. We have to turn that around and put it positively,” she said at the Mental Health Awareness & Suicide Prevention Policy Forum at Sunway University here yesterday.

Also present as speakers were Subang MP Wong Chen, Subang Jaya assemblyman Michelle Ng, and mental health experts Dr Stephen Thevananthan and Dr Khoo Yee Laim.

Yeoh said she herself goes for marital counselling to improve her marriage, not necessarily because she has problems.

“We need to start talking about counselling in a positive manner. We need to introduce it to people.

“For my ministry, we want to focus on counselling. We want to make sure it is accessible and affordable. Especially in the People’s Housing Project (PPR) flats and in universities, you should feel free to walk in and walk out to get help,” she said.

The Segambut MP also stressed the need for the relevant stakeholders to undergo training in dealing and communicating with those who are depressed.

Often, she said, people preferred not to say anything to individuals who are depressed for fear of saying the wrong thing as they are not trained.

“When you do not talk, days and weeks can pass without any communication because you are afraid you will say the wrong thing.

“None of us is an expert. The police need training. I need training. All of us need training. My ministry, together with the health ministry, will start creating awareness programmes, where we will call in experts to give more talks,” she added.

Yeoh also urged residents associations to think out of the box and start organising programmes to target those who are reluctant to join activities such as gotong-royong and open houses.

“We need to create activities in our communities to include everybody, including those who are depressed. We need to be creative and target those who won’t come out.”

The former Subang Jaya representative also noted that many people had grown up being afraid of the police.

“We grow up hearing from our parents that ‘if you don’t behave, I will call the police’. So we grow up seeing the uniform and running.

“We need to stop this culture. We need to start seeing the police as our partners,” she said. -FMT