Ramallah – October 6: The Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD) conducts, as part of its Psychological Counseling and Consultation Program, a series of psychosocial workshops in Ramallah. The sessions were supervised by Social Psychologist Khitam Zahran, targeting groups of women and girls, and addressing a number of psychological and social issues and topics.
PWWSD conducted a workshop at Future College in Beitunia, discussing effective communication that strengthens social relations and positively affects psychological health and productivity. As well as techniques to overcome communication barriers. 15 students attended the workshop.
The Psychological Counseling and Consultation Program held a psychological debriefing session for mothers of children with disabilities at the Al-Ittihad organization in Beitello village. Many activities were performed including drawing and pottery, to alleviate some of the psychological pressures caused by a parent feeling unable to provide for their disabled child. As well as gauging how well the parents understood mutism and autism.
Khitam Zahran said that mothers were provided with techniques and methods of alleviating some of these pressures, and the feeling of helplessness towards their children.
In Kobar village, the Psychological Counseling and Consultation Program held a workshop by Khitam Zahran, addressing techniques for dealing with teenagers. The session was coordinated with CBR, and attended by a group of women from the village.
Mothers presented experiences with their children, emphasizing the importance of meeting emotional needs, and to communicate based on love and friendship between parents and children. As well as moving away from focusing on dominance, force, patriarchal power, and punishment.
Participants also noted the importance of family members using respectful language away from aggression and anger.
Participants recommended more sessions on family relations, techniques to bridge the parent-child gap in today’s world, as well as holding a workshop with the Electronic Crime Department of Palestinian Police to discuss protection techniques from sexual harassment and exploitation through social networking sites.
They also requested more topics, such as puberty and adolescence, basic rules of parenting, as well as spousal psychological containment and its role in building a happy family.