Basic Counseling Course for Addiction Professionals: UTC-4

A 5 day training course “Basic Counseling Skills for Addiction Professionals” was organized by Aga Khan Social Welfare Board in Collaboration with Drug Free Pakistan Foundation and ISSUP-Pakistan Chapter from April 6 & 7, 13 & 14, and 20, 2019. This training was conducted by Dr. Salman Shahzad and Ms. Farheen Naveed. The main aim of this training was to train community mental health professionals so that they could develop knowledge, skills and competency in conducting counseling with people suffering from SUD and their families. There are many community mental health professionals who are working with patients suffering from both mental health and co-occurring disorders like SUD but they are not trained in a particular area. Due to which they are unable to deliver best services to the target clients and their families. During this five day training course we were able to train professionals from diverse backgrounds such as social workers, sociologists, psychologists, and nurses, so that they could develop skills in how to conduct counseling (individual and group) session with clients and their families. In the end, training participants were briefed about UTC and UPC training courses, ISSUP International and Pakistan chapter and they were also invited to join ISSUP.