UPDATE- Global Mental Health Congress: Focus on the Never Served
	National Certified Counselor, V.22 (3). Fall 2006
	As October rapidly approaches, NBCC International (NBCC-I ) is working hard on plans for its first international congress in New Delhi, India, on October 23–24, 2006. Here is an update on the Global Mental Health Congress: Focus on the Never Served and projects with the World Health Organization (WHO) that will be featured at this event. Distinguished Speakers Since announcing the congress in the last edition of the National Certified Counselor, NBCC-I has added two distinguished speakers to the proceedings. Dr. Shekhar Saxena of Geneva, Switzerland, is the coordinator of the WHO Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Evidence, and Research Program. Dr. Lakshmi Vijayakumar is a consulting psychiatrist in Chennai, India, and is a member of the WHO International Network for Suicide Prevention and Research. Global Mental Health Facilitator NBCC-I and WHO continue working together to develop the Global Mental Health Facilitator project, which is designed to train community members to be first-responders to individuals with mental health needs within their own communities. The curriculum, which includes specific training to identify mental health needs and referrals, is being developed by the staff at NBCC-I along with a committee of internationally recognized mental health, subject-matter experts. In mid-September, the committee took part in the first “training of trainers” at the NBCC-Mexico office in Mexico City. Coordinated by NBCC-Mexico, this training included experienced mental health educators from around the world. NBCC-I sees this as the first step to developing a solid group of international Mental Health Facilitator (MHF) trainers. Results from this session, combined with the ongoing development of the MHF curriculum, will be presented at the congress. ATLAS: Resources for Counselling 2007 NBCC-I is continuing to gather data from nearly 200 WHO region member and associate-member countries. This first systematic mapping of the counseling profession worldwide is scheduled for publication in early 2007 and will be translated into five languages. Preliminary data from ATLAS:Resources for Counselling 2007 will be presented at the congress. Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Counsellors This resource, written specifically for counselors as part of the WHO Preventing Suicide series, has been published in English and is being translated for publication into six other languages recommended by WHO. It will be available at the congress.