NIMHANS opens wellbeing course for college staff

NIMHANS Digital Academy is accepting applications for a three-month online course for faculty and campus staff who support students facing psychological distress. The first cohort is limited to 350 participants, with classes scheduled to begin in November.

The Student Wellbeing Ambassadors programme is run by the Department of Clinical Psychology. Applications are open until October 30. Eligible candidates include faculty members from any discipline, deans, wardens and student-welfare officers with at least three years of service remaining. Their institutions must nominate them.

The self-paced course requires 12 to 15 hours and includes videos, quizzes, assignments, reflective exercises and reading. Participants will learn to recognise signs of distress, respond supportively, reduce mental-health stigma and direct students to appropriate help. The programme is also intended to strengthen suicide-risk reduction efforts.

NIMHANS says the course is not professional training in counselling, psychology or psychotherapy. Instead, it is meant to clarify the role and limits of a wellbeing ambassador and prepare faculty to work within existing campus support and crisis-response systems.

The initiative is one step toward implementing Karnataka’s student mental-health policy for higher education. NIMHANS is also developing a follow-up programme to help trained faculty apply what they learn at their institutions. Course information and the application form are available on the NIMHANS and NIMHANS Digital Academy websites.