It is said that a pet can be a man’s best friend and also become his best companion during his time of loneliness.
This was proven in a recent case where a man in his 60s reached out to Empower Pacific for counselling assistance.
He is a divorcee and his only child, a daughter, is married and living with her family.
His former wife is living overseas and they have a case pending in court over property matters for about the past decade.
The man, whom we will refer to as client, recently walked into Empower Pacific’s head office in Lautoka and said he was stressed and needed to talk to someone.
He had heard about the NGO, which focuses on providing counselling assistance and social support services, on a radio advertisement.
The client was referred to our counsellor, Renuka Karan, who spoke to him and assessed his mental health status.
Ms Karan found out that being a divorcee, living alone for quite some time and the pending court case for almost a decade were affecting his state of mind.
His property needs maintenance and he is confused whether to spend his savings on it or not.
The dilemma was because of the situation he was going through.
“The client had lack of concentration and even insomnia because of the high level of stress that he was in considering that he lives alone and the legal issues over the property,” Ms Karan said.
His social life was also reduced, in that, his interaction with other people was lesser because of the mental health issues he was facing.
Ms Karan used the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) in her first counselling session with the client to eliminate those feelings and change his negative thoughts to positive thoughts.
It also had to do with the validation of his thoughts and feelings, and she encouraged him to wait for the outcome of the court case.
Since he loves pets, particularly cats, Ms Karan encouraged him to adopt one, something which he did.
“It was established as a support system for him and he has company now and a relaxed state of mind,” she said.
“The client was also encouraged to see a medical doctor for his insomnia, which he did and was prescribed medication.
“After the third counselling session, the client said that he had completed the course of taking medication and he was feeling rejuvenated. He is also happy with his companion,” Ms Karan said.
In another case that she dealt with recently, the client was a man in his mid-30s who had relationship and family issues because of having two partners.
Someone told him that he should go to Empower Pacific as he could be assisted through counselling.
The man, whom we shall call client, was living in a de facto relationship with his partner and involved in their family business.
A few years ago, he started a relationship with another woman.
The client was stressed because of what was going on in his life and he walked into the NGO’s office for counselling assistance.
Ms Karan used the Client Based Therapy as part of her counselling sessions with the client.
“On one side was his responsibility in managing the business and on the other was his relationships,” she said.
“The client was encouraged to have an open conversation with his first partner in order to help him solve things.
“When the client came for the third session, he said that he had spoken with his first partner’s family and they agreed with what he wants in his life.
“He is living with the second partner now and is still managing the family business.”
Ms Karan said the solution-focused therapy was used for the client’s understanding of the situation and for open conversations with his first partner regarding the same.
She said the client was encouraged to make the decisions himself on what was good for his life.
Apart from these two men, a few others have also reached out to seek counselling services from Empower Pacific for various mental health issues they were facing.
They were able to find out about the NGO and the services it provides through radio advertisements.
This shows that it is not only women but men also who face mental health issues that affect their lives.
Empower Pacific’s chief executive officer Patrick Morgam had earlier said that stigmatisation associated with men’s mental health was still evident.
Mr Morgam had said there was definitely a need to create that safe place in order to assist men in having the courage to seek mental health and psychosocial support for better mental health.
The NGO encourages anyone facing mental health issues to call its 24/7 toll-free counselling helpline – 5626, which is supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade, and seek assistance.
- AVINESH GOPAL is the communications and media officer for Empower Pacific. The views expressed in this article are his and not of this newspaper.
