THE CIVIC Welfare Training Service (CWTS) of Silliman University recently launched its Mental Health Support Initiative to provide mental health support for its cadets.

The project, an initiative of CWTS coordinator Dr. Giovanni Macahig and CWTS assistant coodinator Novee Maestrecampo Jr., will offer mental health education, introduction to self-help tools and sessions on art and music therapy, understanding the sexual self, meditation, and stress management.

“The mental health initiative supports the civic engagement and service mission of CWTS, now emphasizing on mental health particularly at the time of challenges from academic demands of online distance learning and also from the greater community. Also, we want to make CWTS a community of care, but to achieve it, it must start with our cadets taking care of themselves,” Macahig said.

Dr. Betty Cernol-McCann, a licensed psychologist, was the guest speaker during the virtual launch.

She talked about “Mental Health in the Era of Covid19 and Online Distance Learning,” which tackled sources of stress among students and shared tips on how students can take care of their mental health.

“If we find it difficult to manage how we think, how we feel, or even how we behave, with respect to the daily stimuli and stresses that come our way every day, then there could be a sign of poor mental health. Mental health awareness will allow us to have our own internal check so that we will be prepared to deal with the situation. We can only solve a problem if we know what the problem is,” McCann said.

She emphasized the importance of being proactive and keeping a good mental health environment, especially in responding to stress brought by the pandemic and distance learning.

“There is nothing we can do, from our own personal side, regarding the Covid19 pandemic; but there is something that we can do in the way we respond to the Covid19 pandemic and even the way we respond to online distance learning,” said McCann.

The project will initially focus on CWTS cadets and will be extended to a partner sector or community in the second semester of School Year 2020-2021.