
On September 22, 2020, with the goal of ensuring that the faculty are in the best shape to address the needs of the students, DEBESMSCAT has hosted a Webinar on Mental Health Wellness, the first in the province. The said webinar was attended to by more or less 180 participants who listened to a wealth of information and tips from Dr. Rose Marie Salazar-Clemeña, Professor Emeritus of the De la Salle University, registered psychologist and guidance counselor and a distinguished expert on psychology and counseling both nationally and internationally.
Among the focus of the said webinar was the 8 dimensions of mental wellness which include the physical, financial, environmental, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, occupational, and social dimensions.
One of the takeaways from the talk of Dr. Clemeña was that mental health is not about feeling okay all the time but that it’s okay to feel not okay.
“What we experience in our lives do not determine our mental health–it is how we think of these experiences that do. Sometimes, we feel not okay–and that is okay,” says Dr. Clemeña.
How long this pandemic will last is still uncertain. For now, we can say that the road to truly resuming and enjoying the old normal is still far from sight. Should the normal continue, DEBESMSCAT will provide strategies to ensure that both the student and faculty get to keep their mental wellness in top shape. If all else fail, there’s 93.1 Buffalo Radio, the radio of the new normal.