By Student and Alumni Centre (SAC)
8th April 2020
On the 8th April 2020, UOW Malaysia Counselling Unit conducted the first Zoom Sembang Counsellor. This is one of the virtual mental health initiatives that was done through Zoom Meeting Platform. This Zoom Sembang served to help students through Movement Control Order (MCO) through virtual counselling, ensuring students are emotionally healthy during this time of the pandemic.
The topic of this Zoom Sembang session is Draw of Your Emotions. Once the students signed up for the Zoom session via SAC Lifestyle Application, they were given worksheets for the activity. The session begins with welcoming words by two well-trained counsellors, Eka Natasha and Guan Kheng.
After giving an introduction on the topic, the counsellors invited participants to share their opinions and have a dialogue on it. Participants have been very responsive in the conversations as well as completing the worksheet. The participants draw out their emotions on the provided worksheet and shared about the reason behind their drawings and the choices of colours.
Most of the participants shared about how they missed socialising with friends in a physical setting and they are very keen to go back to campus. Some also shared of how they have been able to connect back with their close family and friends through video call apps. However, participants also shared how they felt stressed as now they have to adapt the new changes and learning through online classes and lectures. Counsellors provided students with ways to cope with their emotions while being in a time of uncertainty.
In the end, ’Zoom Sembang Counsellor – Draw Your Emotions’ wrapped up with encouraging words from counsellors to participants, reminding participants to take care of their emotional health during MCO. Overall, it has been a very successful virtual event.
15th April 2020
UOW Malaysia KDU Counselling Unit conducted the 2nd Zoom Sembang Counsellor session entitled ‘Create Your Emotional First Aid Kit’ on the 15th April 2020 (Wednesday), 2.00pm to 3.00pm. The objectives of this session were to promote mental health awarness such as recognizing symptoms of emotional injury, as well as identify available resources and/or support systems to create emotional first aid kit. Students will keep and utilize the emotional first aid kit when encounter emotional crisis.
The session started off with introducing importance of maintaining healthy mental health condition and symptoms of emotional injury. Students were given opportunities to ask questions anytime during the session, either by unmute themselves or type in the chat column. Next, we briefed students about the ‘Emotional Emergency First Aid Kit’ template. Then, students were given 15-20 minutes to check and add on the tools and/or techniques that they think it’s most helpful to be utilized whenever they feel emotionally overwhelmed (Kindly refer to the attached ‘Creating an Emotional First Aid Kit’ template). After that, the session proceeded with reflection and sharing, and wrapped up with group photo.
22nd April 2020
“ZOOM Sembang Counsellor : Your not to do list” marked the third session under the ZOOM Sembang Counsellor series during the MCO period. The objective of this session was to help the students to recognized and identified the list of things that is not under their priority and help them to strategize their time to focus more things that can bring benefits to themselves.
Through out this session, students are given opportunity to list that few things/thought that are distracting them at that current period or things that been with them most of of the time. According to the template above, students need to identify few stuff and thoughts that are distracting them according to the template given by the counsellor during that session.
The students later on are required to identify the top 5 most not to do list on their own which will help them to focus more on stuff/thought that can help them to become more productive in their daily tasks and getting rid of the negative stuff/thought that keep distracting them to move forward. During this session as well, students being given opportunity to share with the peers about their own experiences in handling things/thought that distracting them especially the one related to their life.
29th April 2020
On 29th April 2020, UOW Malaysia Counselling Unit has successfully conducted the Zoom Sembang Counsellor. This activity is one of the virtual mental health initiatives using Zoom Meeting Platform. Aim of Zoom Sembang Counsellor is to engage with students using the online platform as a medium of communication during Movement Control Order & to provide students with the proper platform to acknowledge and share their emotions. The number of participants attending the event is 45 participants.
The topic of Zoom Sembang Counsellor is Retrieve Your Happiness. After students signed up via SAC Lifestyle Application, they were given Zoom meeting link and ID. The event starts by welcoming words from two counsellors – Jia Yi and Guan Kheng. Counsellors make a small conversation with students by asking their well-being and productivity throughout Movement Control Order while waiting for the rest of the participants.
After welcoming students, the counsellor introduced the topic and asking the student’s definition of happiness. Most of the participants responding well and able to articulate well to the topics. Event proceeds with the activity where the student needs to share ways for them to find/retrieve happiness. The counsellor helps them by providing an example and encourage other participants to give constructive feedback as well.
Several participants were chosen to share their ways of finding happiness such as having positive thoughts, do things that they love, exercise, helping others and many more. drawings. Most of them were excited to share their ways and it helps to create positive energy throughout the event. After the sharing session, the counsellors provide additional ways to retrieve their happiness. Five minutes before the end of the event, counsellor answering few questions from participants. Zoom Sembang Counsellor – Retrieve Your Happiness wrapped up with encouraging words from counsellors to participants.
6th May 2020
“ZOOM Sembang Counsellor : Build your own frame” marked the fifth session under the ZOOM Sembang Counsellor series during the MCO period. The objective of this session was to help the students to draw their ideal life/situations that they want to achieve later on their life according to different phases that they going to get through after they graduate.
Throughout this session, students are given opportunity to draw inside the boxes based on the following template above of how they pictured their life that they want to achieve after they finished their studies.
During this session as well, students being given opportunity to share their thought and plan for their future. Besides that, students also able to exchange thought with other peers about the differences on their life planning and get to explore that not everyone will undergo the same process as what they will experience later on.
15th May 2020
UOW Malaysia KDU Counselling Unit conducted the 6th Zoom Sembang Counsellor session entitled ‘Mandala Drawing’ on 13th May 2020 (Wednesday), 2.00pm to 3.00pm. The objectives of this session were to help students to focus on the present moment, at the same time allow thoughts and emotions to flow by expressing them via Mandala Drawing. After attending the workshop, students will be able to utilize Mandala Drawing as one of their coping mechanisms when feeling overwhelmed with academic and/or personal concerns.
The session started off with introducing what’s Mandala Drawing by showing examples of Mandala designs. Students were given opportunities to ask questions anytime during the session, either by unmute themselves or type in the chat column. Next, we briefed students regarding the benefits of Mandala Drawing in relation to mental health. Then, students were given 15-20 minutes to create and draw personal Mandala designs. After that, the session proceeded with reflection and sharing, and wrapped up with group photo.
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UOW Malaysia KDU University College