Prafulta means abundance or fullness. The mission of Prafulta: Centre for Psychological Wellness, Andheri, is to bring healing and abundance in the lives of people and enhance their quality of living. Our inspiration is Jesus who said: “I have come that they may have life, life in abundance.”
Prafulta is 25 years old! It started on 8 September 1998, the Feast of the Nativity of Our Blessed Mother. When it began we were very hesitant and unsure. We had no clue if an idea of a multi-service mental health centre would survive here in Mumbai. There were no models to imitate. Given the life span of start-ups where hardly 1% survive beyond 5 years, we were frightfully nervous!
Mental illness was not an accepted notion in those days. It was a taboo topic, talked behind closed doors and in hushed tones. There were very few clients who sought help and mental illness was not a topic people were ready to deal with. In fact, there is still a lot of hesitancy and reluctance to accept mental illness even now. In spite of a difficult beginning, we stuck it out, convinced we had something relevant to offer, something that society needed, although it was not ready to accept it as yet!
The idea of a Centre to specifically deal with emotional related problems, especially those of youngsters, was first initiated by Fr Adolph Furtado, the then Rector of St Dominic Savio Boys’ Home, Andheri. He changed the school schedule, shifted the NIOS Section, and created a space for mental health services. With the help of Dr Kersi Chavda, a psychiatrist, and Ms Mimansa Popat, a Special Educator, we put together the first team of 5 professionals that included a psychiatrist, a clinical psychologist, a special educator and two counselors. This gave birth to the work at Prafulta.
Gradually more services were added. Being a Don Bosco Centre, guiding youngsters was an obvious choice, and so we started Career Guidance Services. Career Guidance was introduced as a process towards Identity Formation and a way of self-discovery for youngsters. Today we have an entire department that is involved in Career Guidance which guides and supports over a thousand youngsters each year using the latest psychological assessment tools. We also conduct Career Guidance Services in Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati. We do this both online and offline, which enables us to reach out to a large number of people.
Another challenging area of work was to reach out to children with Learning Difficulties. The signs were obvious – children, otherwise pretty smart, were finding it difficult to read, write, do simple math or organize themselves to get their regular chores done. Although studies and research showed that 10 to 12% of regular school going children have learning difficulties, there was a lot of denial both from parents and school managements to accept this problem and the need for specialized intervention. We started working at the Centre with children having these difficulties and subsequently a few schools invited us to assess children, offer remedial services and help them to set-up resource rooms.
Soon we realised that something more basic was required. We introduced Occupational Therapy and helped children develop gross and fine motor skills, perceptual skills, communication and social skills and worked with children with Sensory Processing Dysfunction. The results were phenomenal. It was fascinating to see how this early intervention significantly helped in the growth and development of a child and remedied several subsequent problems. Prafulta now has a ‘Learning Centre’ where Special Educators and Occupational Therapists work with children on the Autism Spectrum, Slow Learners and children having neurodivergent conditions.
Covid 19 left us reeling, exposing the cracks in our system. Among the many areas badly affected during this period was the emotional well-being of people. There was no system in place to take care of people’s state of mind, their fears and anxieties, the depression and panic they experienced. Everyone needed support and help. Children were especially vulnerable. Prafulta joined hands with other NGOs and immediately created Helplines through which people could access mental health professionals. Fortunately, before the pandemic began, we already had an online platform for counselling. Our counsellors, psychiatrists, occupational therapists, special educators and career guidance counsellors reached out in every way possible to support individuals and groups in distress. We had regular counselling sessions, psychiatric consultations, online talks, webinars, support groups and workshops and reached out to thousands of people, handholding them through this period of crisis. In the past academic year alone, during the pandemic period, our professionals conducted over 500 talks, workshops and programs for students, teachers, parents and others on various aspects of emotional health and reached out to almost 4 lac individuals through the year.
Gradually more services were added. Being a Don Bosco Centre, guiding youngsters was an obvious choice, and so we started Career Guidance Services. Career Guidance was introduced as a process towards Identity Formation and a way of self-discovery for youngsters. Today we have an entire department that is involved in Career Guidance which guides and supports over a thousand youngsters each year using the latest psychological assessment tools. We also conduct Career Guidance Services in Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati. We do this both online and offline, which enables us to reach out to a large number of people.
Another challenging area of work was to reach out to children with Learning Difficulties. The signs were obvious – children, otherwise pretty smart, were finding it difficult to read, write, do simple math or organize themselves to get their regular chores done. Although studies and research showed that 10 to 12% of regular school going children have learning difficulties, there was a lot of denial both from parents and school managements to accept this problem and the need for specialized intervention. We started working at the Centre with children having these difficulties and subsequently a few schools invited us to assess children, offer remedial services and help them to set-up resource rooms.
Soon we realised that something more basic was required. We introduced Occupational Therapy and helped children develop gross and fine motor skills, perceptual skills, communication and social skills and worked with children with Sensory Processing Dysfunction. The results were phenomenal. It was fascinating to see how this early intervention significantly helped in the growth and development of a child and remedied several subsequent problems. Prafulta now has a ‘Learning Centre’ where Special Educators and Occupational Therapists work with children on the Autism Spectrum, Slow Learners and children having neurodivergent conditions.
Covid 19 left us reeling, exposing the cracks in our system. Among the many areas badly affected during this period was the emotional well-being of people. There was no system in place to take care of people’s state of mind, their fears and anxieties, the depression and panic they experienced. Everyone needed support and help. Children were especially vulnerable. Prafulta joined hands with other NGOs and immediately created Helplines through which people could access mental health professionals. Fortunately, before the pandemic began, we already had an online platform for counselling. Our counsellors, psychiatrists, occupational therapists, special educators and career guidance counsellors reached out in every way possible to support individuals and groups in distress. We had regular counselling sessions, psychiatric consultations, online talks, webinars, support groups and workshops and reached out to thousands of people, handholding them through this period of crisis. In the past academic year alone, during the pandemic period, our professionals conducted over 500 talks, workshops and programs for students, teachers, parents and others on various aspects of emotional health and reached out to almost 4 lac individuals through the year.
An important area of focus at Prafulta has always been to organize and conduct regular Training Programmes. These training programmes help to create more professionals who in turn reach out to a society that is struggling to cope with the increasing stress and turmoil of everyday life. Prafulta conducts a range of professional training programs through the year. There are programs for professionals to augment and refine their skills; programs to train parents, teachers and educators; programs to help develop skills of children, youth, families, societies and others to live emotionally healthy and fulfilling lives. By organising these programmes regularly, Prafulta addresses the acute dearth of mental health professionals and make more people available in the field. Three of the training programs we organise viz. Integral Somatic Psychology (ISP), Choice Theory and Reality Therapy (CTRT) and Dynamic Attachment Repatterning Experiencing (DARe) receive International Certification.
Another significant aspect at Prafulta is the ‘Well Being Awareness’ initiatives through which we reach out to large groups of people, especially the underprivileged. One such initiative is the Emotional Development & Career Guidance (EDCG) program. This is an age-appropriate emotional health curriculum which has been developed to enhance the emotional and social quotient of students from Std. V to X. This program includes sessions for the parents as well. In the current academic year (2022-23), through the EDCG program, we are reaching out to over 6500 students and their parents. We also have another initiative called ‘Khabi Khushi Khabi Gham’ where hundreds of children learn to deal with their emotions in a fun-filled and enjoyable manner. We have also been taking our mental health activities to people living in villages and slums. It is heartening to see these simple people assimilating basic ideas on emotional health and realising that they too have a right to live a happy and contented life!
As Salesians, we have been working with people providing education, doing skills training, catechising them and enabling them to become good and honest citizens. Although we guide and counsel people, this whole aspect of their emotional development and the care of people, especially youngsters, who are struggling with various disorders and addictions, those who have lost a sense of meaning in life, those battling with their fears and anxieties… have not been a focus of our attention. We need to work a lot more to help people deal with their inner demons and help them find peace.
Prafulta, Centre for Psychological Wellness, has been doing this work for the past 25 years. We have been reaching out to people in distress, bringing peace and understanding to individuals and families, guiding youngsters to find their life path, helping children to overcome their disabilities, making people more resilient and eventually living a happy and fulfilled life. The satisfaction is that over the years hundreds and thousands of people have been assisted. But there is much more that needs to be done. It is wonderful that the Salesian Province of Mumbai already has two psychological centres at Andheri and Matunga and is developing a third one at Nerul in Navi Mumbai.
Don Bosco used to say, “In every young person, a point of goodness is accessible. And it is the primary duty of the educator to discover that sensitive chord of the heart so as to draw out the best in the young person.” As Salesians, this is our primary duty not just with every youngster we meet, but with every person who crosses our path.
