The Atmiyata Course: Providing Evidence-based Mental Health Support
The Atmiyata Course provides participants skills in evidence-based counselling techniques to identify, reach out, and support persons in distress.
Launched in October 2020, the course has completed 6 batches and successfully trained 85 individuals till date.
The Atmiyata course is based on Atmiyata, our community-led mental health and social care intervention.
In 2021, the World Health Organization listed Atmiyata as one of the 25 good practices for community outreach mental health services in the world. To know more, click here.
Training material for the Atmiyata Course has been developed with funding support from Mariwala Health Initiative and Grand Challenges Canada.
The current batch is open to Indian residents only.
Please note: This course is meant to enhance one’s capacity for self-care, informal mental health care, and support to one’s family, friends & colleagues. It does not equip, qualify, certify or recognise any individual as a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist, or any other mental health professional for providing clinical, diagnostic or therapeutic services to persons with mental health problems.
Who is this course for
The Atmiyata course is designed for people who want to provide mental health support using evidence-based techniques.
It is particularly relevant for people with lived experiences, care providers, teachers, educators, mid-level to senior managers, team supervisors, HR professionals, self-motivated individuals, general medical practitioners, mental health professionals, non-profit organisations working on mental health and allied fields such as gender, caste, livelihood, other physical health conditions, and others.
Learning Outcomes
This course will equip you with:
- An understanding of community mental health
- Evidence-based techniques to reach out to persons in distress (Anxiety & Depression)
- Techniques for self-care
- Conceptual & practical knowledge of tools to provide mental health support
Duration & Schedule
The total duration of the course is 20 hours, divided between 7 days. These are spread over 5 weekends with each session lasting 3 hours.
2 weeks post course completion, a check-in session is scheduled for participants to share their experience of applying their course learnings to real-life situations.
This is an ONLINE course.
Course Structure
| MODULES | MAIN TOPICS |
|---|---|
| Module 1: Mental health is a spectrum | Understanding mental health, stress, and distress
Coping mechanisms |
| Module 2: Knowing more about common and severe mental health conditions | Common mental health conditions: Depression & Anxiety
Severe mental health conditions and referral pathway Understanding grief |
| Module 3: Knowing more about severe mental health conditions | Severe mental health conditions and referral pathway |
| Module 4: Knowing more about suicide | Overview of suicide and referral pathway |
| Module 5: Qualities of a good mental health supporter | Key ingredients for providing support |
| Module 6: Learning evidence-based techniques for providing mental health support | Active listening
Problem solving Behavioural activation |
| Module 7: Relaxation techniques | Learning and practising relaxation techniques |
| Module 8: Understanding social determinants of mental health | Impact of socio-cultural factors on mental health |
| Module 9: Knowing more about self-care | Self-care tips and techniques |
| Module 10: Practice sessions to support a person in distress | Supporting persons who are grieving and/ or dealing with Anxiety/ Depression
Role plays for practising techniques |
Certification
Participants who successfully complete the course will receive a certificate from the Centre for Mental Health Law & Policy, Indian Law Society, Pune.
Application Process & Fee
Participants are required to submit their application form online. As we have small batch sizes for this course, the team will shortlist the final cohort.
Entry requirements
The current batch is open to Indian residents only
Fee
6100 + 18% GST
We strongly encourage persons from marginalised and vulnerable communities to apply. We have limited fee waiver seats. Please let us know in the application form if you would need a fee waiver.
