Harman Foundation’s seminar on mental health awareness discussed the importance of family dynamics in the coping process
At Harman Foundation’s seminar on family relationships and mental health awareness, the objective was twofold—how to know and where to go for help; and second, to recognise and promote the importance of family in this journey towards mental well-being.
More than 125 men, women and children of diverse ethnicities and ages braved the rain and cold of Sunday, 5 November, to attend the informative seminar, conducted free of cost, at the Glenwood Community Hub.
The event was a tribute to psychologist Lynn McCabe, who lost her battle with breast cancer earlier this year.
The format of the seminar was an open panel discussion between the attendees and the panel of speakers consisting of psychologist Surpreet Cheema, psychiatrist Dr Richa Rastogi, GPs Dr Kiran Jassal and Dr Gunjan Singh, Multicultural Health Service representative Una Turalic, and social worker Simi Bajaj. Amrit Versha, the patron of Harman Foundation, and an academic at the University of New South Wales, facilitated the panel discussion.
It proved to be an in-depth discussion as the audience provided interesting insights into their own family dynamics as well as raised questions with the panel speakers about how to deal with mental health related issues.
In parallel, the Art of Living ran a yoga and activities workshop with young children, followed by an meditation workshop for adults.
The seminar was successful in and could not have been possible without the help of Harman Foundation’s financial supporters Grewal Grain Mills and Waratah Estate Agents and Hope College, and numerous other organisations who provided their services and support including Community Migrant Resource Centre (CMRC), WayAhead—Mental Health Association NSW, Balwinder Singh Chahal and his team from the Australian Sikh Association, India Club, Relationships Australia NSW (June Brooks and Dennis Farrar), Multicultural Health Service (Una Turalic), The Art of Living, JoyBooth and Sri Om Care. There were also a number of health related stalls, including a podiatry-related stall by Sukhmani Kalra and another for vitamins and health products by Gurmeet Kaur.
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