Q8 Counseling

Mental Health Awareness Week ended yesterday in Canada.

There is no such day in Kuwait, and there isn't likely to be for the foreseeable future. What Kuwait does have, however, is the SPEAK Girls, Alaa and Dalal Al Homaizi. These girls (twins) are currently undergrad students at NorthEastern University in Boston, but their hearts are in Kuwait. Last year they started an awareness campaign to confront the stigma around mental health issues in Kuwait.

They are working on three fronts - getting the Ministry of Higher Education to recognize and fund psychology degrees; educating the public; and bringing together professionals committed to excellent and ethical standards of practice.

Recently, I had the privilege of sharing the stage with them at an event organized by Sara Mutar, herself a college student here in Kuwait. So in the midst of getting ready to return to NorthEastern, the SPEAK Girls and I did our bit for mental health awareness.

Here's a link to the Kuwait Times article (English) and to the Al Qabas article (Arabic)

Spread the word - mental health is everybody's business. You might also take the time to check out SPEAK, and the Soor Center, on Facebook.

Take care of yourself,

Susannah