Since its founding in 2005, NBCC International (NBCC-I) is more committed than ever to advancing the counseling profession globally. Participating in several international partnerships has reinforced our understanding of the critical need for safe and effective mental health services beyond U.S. borders. Our discoveries and discussions have led to several exciting projects with tremendous potential for the counseling profession and mental health overall. The next step is to provide a forum for worldwide exchange regarding the progress and future stages of these projects.
NBCC-I is proud to announce the first “Global Mental Health Congress: Focus on the Never Served” scheduled for October 23–24, 2006, in New Delhi, India. Conceived as a result of our multiple projects with the World Health Organization (WHO), this groundbreaking event will provide a forum for international representatives of mental health organizations, ministries of health and education, and leading mental health researchers and policy makers to exchange knowledge and information about joint NBCC-I/WHO projects.
Dr. Benedetto Saraceno, director of WHO’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Dependence, and Harriet Mayor Fulbright, chair of the Fulbright International Center, will open the congress. Other distinguished speakers include Dr. Sonia Chehil, assistant professor, Dalhousie University Department of Psychiatry— International Section—Child and Adolescent Section, Nova Scotia; Dr. Stan Kutcher, professor of psychiatry, director of the WHO Collaborating Center in Mental Health Training and Policy and associate dean of International Medical Development and Research, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia; and Dr. Srinivasa Murthy, Mental Health Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office of WHO, Cairo, Egypt. The conference will feature the launch of the Mental Health Facilitator (MHF) certification project. In addition, special attention will be given to the publications ATLAS: Country Resources for Counselling 2007 and Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Counsellors, both dedicated to the field of counseling.
Mental Health Facilitator
NBCC-I and WHO are also working to develop an elaborate system to increase access to trained mental health professionals around the world. The system establishes training for local responders to mental health needs. First responders in communities will receive a
training curriculum including identification and referral for mental health needs in local populations. The curriculum for Mental Health Facilitators (MHF) will be developed as an international training mechanism that balances quality assurances with cultural sensitivity. Modeled after the Global Career Development Facilitator (GCDF) curriculum, this program will contain universal training modules as well as others that are culture specific.
The idea for this training emerged from a discussion with Dr. Saraceno regarding the mental health needs of the 450 million people identified by WHO’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Dependence as having unserved mental health needs. Dr. Saraceno subsequently surveyed more than forty mental health leaders from around the world to garner their feedback about the need and viability of such a system. In March 2006, these mental health experts joined NBCC-I staff in France to continue constructing the curriculum. Currently, the curriculum is being adapted based on the feedback of this distinguished group.
The MHF curriculum will be developed and refined during stages of a scaled pilot program based in three developing countries. The first stage is anticipated to begin in August 2006. Initial data will be presented at the congress.
ATLAS: Country Resources for Counselling 2007
ATLAS is a WHO publication based on the results of a survey of more than 190 countries designed to gather extensive data about a particular profession. Previously, WHO has released an ATLAS publication for professions such as psychology and psychiatric nursing. Now NBCC-I and WHO are partnering to publish the first ATLAS for the counseling profession, which will result in a systematic mapping of counseling as a separate mental health profession. Data from this edition of ATLAS will be presented at the New Delhi congress.
Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Counsellors
Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Counsellors is a collaborative publication between NBCC-I and WHO. Part of the Preventing Suicide
series of prevention guides, this guide is written with counselors specifically in mind. Prior to this one, other guides for professional groups have included primary care physicians, teachers, and prison officers. The counselor edition of this tool, with useful information on prevalence, risk factors, and general intervention recommendations, will be printed in the six official World Health Organization languages.
The staff of NBCC International looks forward to this event as the start of a tradition for NBCC-I of gathering a worldwide audience for the purpose of advancing the profession and its capacity to serve.
