PENANG: The free psychological first aid offered by Wawasan Open University (WOU) in partnership with the International College of Clinical Hypnotherapy Practitioners (ICCHP) Asia is now extended until May 15th. A total of 223 people had reached out for help in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic from 1st to 25th April, 2020.
The programme is scheduled to continue past the lifting of the Movement Control Order (MCO) to handle post-traumatic stress from the prolonged lockdown.
The team from ICCHP Asia assisted callers with tips and skills to better manage their challenging emotions. Although the free psychological service was set up targeting the frontliners, there were many calls received from the community at large due to various losses and the restrictions. Suicidal cases were referred to the team’s on-call psychiatrists for clinical assessment, advanced help and close monitoring.
The team helped to calm distressed callers and enabled them to better cope with the current uncertainties and make informed decisions. Where practical assistance was needed, they worked with the Members of Parliament in the areas concerned to provide urgent assistance, such as medical emergencies, ambulance services and food aid.
A team of 16 professionals from ICCHP Asia, including six psychiatrists, are offering support over the phone. All conversations are private and confidential. Students from across the country who are doing complete online learning remotely from their homes or elsewhere, are also encouraged to call in if they are feeling stressed during the MCO period.
Feel free to call ICCHP Asia from 9am to 9pm daily from now until May 15th as per below, or email icchpcovid19@gmail.com to arrange a convenient time to chat: 0124447032 / 0169271240/ 0124856404 (9am-12pm);
0123021262 / 0124080675/ 0123741558 (12pm-3pm);
0174777746 / 0124736830 / 0164979876 (3pm-6pm);
0122212906 / 0195645868 / 0124252962 (6pm-9pm)
Students can contact the WOU toll-free careline no. 1-300-888-968 and be re-directed to ICCHP on request