Center for Mental Health & Disabilities
CMHD
About us
Establishing the Centre for Mental Health and Disabilities (CMHD) was one of the initiatives of our Chairman, Board of Trustees Hon Shri Madhukar Pathak with the broad vision of unique Mental Health activities and Disability Services to be provided in the field of Mental Health and Disability across India.
The primary aim of this centre is to assist, help, enable and strengthen the capacities Mental Health Professionals and person with all kind of disabilities including Mental Illnesses, Intellectual and Physical disabilities with the primary focus on various issues, challenges, problems and concerns of the Mental Health Professionals and person with all kind of disabilities through Networking, Capacity building, teaching, training, and research activities and initiatives. The centre for Mental Health and Disabilities primarily emphasize the betterment of all the concerns or the stakeholders in the field of Mental Health and Disability through its extension activities to enhance the capacities, abilities, capabilities and potentials in working towards an equitable and just to ensure the equal opportunities or equality, full participation and protection of rights and dignity of the persons with disabilities.
To fulfill the targeted or strategic goal and objectives our centre has to move forward through the Networking Events, Capacity Building Programs, various training Programs, Teaching, Evidence Based Research and other Extension activities, Collaborations with few other field based non-governmental organizations, PPP Models, Alliance with Government departments, University Departments, teaching institutes and Ministries of State Government / Central Government.
The centre has plan of starting various short term and Long Term Certificate and Diploma Courses in coming years. Some Diploma Courses are already designed and just need the final approvals of board of studies and some are in pipeline. The Centre is planning to offer Some Certificate and Diploma Courses like Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), Family Therapy, Marital Therapy, Art Based Therapy, Music, Drum and Dance Therapy, Pre- Marital Counseling, Career Counseling, Child and Adolescent Counseling, Social Skill, Parenting, Gerontology (Old Age Care), Care Givers, Drawing and Fine Arts Diploma for Hearing Impaired, Basic Computer Application Course for Hearing Impaired, Interior Designing Course for Hearing Impaired, Sign Language Course etc.
Every Year we observe and celebrate various Mental Health and Disability related days, weeks and organize theme based Workshops, Conferences, seminars by department of Medical and Psychiatric Social Work, Post Graduate Diploma in Counseling and Mental Health and Mental Health Forum which brought together various Mental Health Professionals, Academicians, Person with Disabilities and all other key stakeholders with State, National and International level backgrounds.
The 'Centre for Mental Health and Disabilities is the first of its kind in the Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune and in the state of Maharashtra as well. If we look at the historical milestones our Institute has the department of Medical and Psychiatric Social Work and it has produced good number of Mental Health Professionals since its inception throughout the years. In addition to that the institute has started the Post Graduate Diploma in Counseling and Mental Health (PGDCMH) Course in 2016 and this year we have started our 4th batch with full strength of admissions. We all are aware that our Country India has lack of Mental Health Manpower and there is requirement of trained and skilled manpower in this field but unfortunately there is a negligence and slow progress in the increase of Manpower. Our Diploma in Counseling and Mental Health (PGDCMH) has created the path for interested people to get in to the field to serve the society and we try to impart the knowledge in the field of Mental Health Counseling. Though we are not producing the mainstream Mental Health Professionals like Psychiatrists, Clinical Psychologists, Psychiatric or Clinical Social Workers and Psychiatric Nurses but at least we are trying to support the field with Para professionals and cadre of Counselors, which is going to be a one of the milestone in the patient/ client care system of field of Mental Health and Disability.
In fact the Institute has initiated numerous Mental Health and Disability field related activities from last few years and trying to impart the knowledge of the field with invariable activities.
The establishment of “Manodaya Mental Health Forum” is one of the remarkable achievements of the institute where Pune and Maharashtra state based Mental Health Professionals came together on same platform in year 2016 and started functioning together for the betterment of the field of Mental Health.
The “Centre for Mental Health and Disabilities” has been proposed by Prof Chetan Diwan, the Executive President of Mental Health Forum and Faculty of Post Graduate Diploma in Counseling and Mental Health (PGDCMH) and Dr. Mahesh Thakur, Hon. Director of CSR Cell and PGDCMH course, which is supported and appreciated by Chairman of Board of Trustees Shri. Madhukar Pathak and Chairman of Managing Committee Shri. Sadanand Deshpande.
As per the guidelines and provision of Revised Person with Disabilities Act 2016, each and every University has to take initiatives to establish the “Centre for Disabilities” where the proper care of person with Disability should be taken care of and University should motivate, promote and help this section for the “Disability friendly” education and environment. Also we try to practice the slogan of United Nations Convention for Rights of Persons with Disability' i.e. 'Nothing about us without all of us' and focusing on larger goal of Facilitating Inclusion and Diversity' of persons with Disability in Indian Context.
As the major focus of the “Centre for Mental Health and Disabilities” is the holistic development of the Person with Disability through the protection of their rights, prevention of future consequences with the help of research findings, strengths based approach using social discourse, empowerment based, anti-oppressive social work, and people centered partnership practice to develop knowledge around Mental Health and disability studies with voices of people with disabilities.
