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Seminar on “Drug Abuse and Youth in Bangladesh”
A seminar on “Drug Abuse and Youth in Bangladesh” was organized by the Social Counseling Centre of University of Asia Pacific on 29th November 2019. Around 250 students participated in this seminar at the University Auditorium. The Chief Guest of this program was the Honorable Planning Minister of Bangladesh Government Mr. M.A. Mannan M.P., while the Keynote speaker was Dr. Arup Ratan Choudhury, a noted anti-Drug Activist. Mr. Monzoor Ahmed Chowdhury, the Chairman of the Board of Trustee of UAP presided over the seminar. Dr. Arup Ratan Choudhury gave an informative presentation on the prevalence of drugs in the county and its ultimate physiological, psychological, and social effect. The chief guest, Mr. M.A. Mannan M.P., encouraged the youth to use their rational and creative mind to build a better future. Mr. Monzoor Ahmed Chowdhury in his presidential speech focused on measures taken by UAP to curb the use of drugs and elaborated on socio-counseling facilities available to the students. Air Cdre (Retd.) Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury, Treasurer, and the Director of DSW, UAP, gave the vote of thanks to all the guests, organizers, and participants for making the event a success.
Workshop on 'How to Manage Exam Related Anxiety & Depression for Better Grades'
The Social Counseling Centre of the University of Asia Pacific (UAP) organized a workshop on 'How to Manage Exam Related Anxiety & Depression for Better Grades' on 18th July 2019 at room number 403 of UAP Annex Building. The workshop was facilitated by Mr. Md. Rakibul Hasan, Socio Counselor, UAP which was designed with different group activities that made the students participate very actively throughout the session.
In the beginning, the facilitator talked about the difference between depression and anxiety, and how these mental states hamper study. Then he oriented the students about the signs to detect depression and anxiety during and prior to exam time. Moreover, the discussion was made on the usefulness of stress (anxiety) and how much of it is required to obtain the optimal performance in the exam. The main lecture was divided into three parts based on the number of time students have prior to the exam for study namely, early-stage (procrastinating stage), intermediate stage, and final stage (cramming stage), where he pointed out different strategies for each stage and how students can put their efforts to get the optimal output using those strategies.
One of the key discussion points in the workshop was ‘procrastination’ which has been identified by the students as a key hindrance while remaining consistent with their studies. On that occasion, students were provided with tools like ‘time management kit’ and ‘smart goal setting kit’ which helped them to plan accordingly to manage those hindrances and take better preparation before the exam. Other than this, the students were taught how to keep themselves calm during excessive stress just before the exam night with the help of diaphragmatic breathing and mindfulness exercises. Through the group activities, they have identified the elements of distraction during study time and set the goal of specifically being emotionally involved with their goal/dream to help themselves with the consistent uninterrupted study routine.
The workshop was wrapped up by a Q&A session where they asked several questions and expressed their opinion about the effectiveness of the workshop.
Seminar on ‘Meeting the Challenges of Drug Addiction’
The Social Counseling Centre of the University of Asia Pacific organized a seminar on ‘Meeting the Challenges of Drug Addiction’ on 25th April 2019 at the seminar room of the Department of Business Administration, UAP.
The Seminar was chaired by Air Cdre Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury (Retd.), Director, DSW, UAP. The key speaker of the seminar was Prof. Dr. Kamrun Mustafa, Certified Drugs & Mental Health Counseling Specialist who is also a member of the American Public Health Association. The program was collaborated by an organization named ‘Madok Mukto Somaj, Bangladesh (MMSB)’. This organization has been working in Bangladesh to eradicate the uses of substances. At the beginning of the seminar Major General AMSA Amin (Retd), Chairperson of ‘Madok Mukto Somaj, Bangladesh’ introduced the activity of their organization and how they are helping especially the university students to come out of drugs. He also discussed the strategic plans of their organization to reach its mission and vision.
The key speaker of this seminar then presented her speech. She started with the definition of drugs, types of drugs, and the different terminologies that youth uses for different drugs. She also differentiated between the criteria of an addicted abuser and an occasional drug abuser. In her lecture, she highlighted the impact of four most commonly used drugs among the youth, a mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine (yaba), chlorphenamine and codeine (phensedyl), cannabis, and alcohol. She illustrated the impacts of those drugs in our body from her professional experiences of treating addiction disorder and with a lot of visual materials. She also mentioned cigarettes which she considered as the gateway to any sort of drugs. She concluded her lecture by explaining how the youth, mostly out of curiosity and at times just to feel happy or to avoid psychological discomfort, getting involved with drugs keeping themselves unaware of the bio-psycho-social hazard.
The lecture and visual materials were designed in a way that from the very beginning the session was much interactive and the students felt comfortable enough to open themselves up with their concerns and queries. The seminar was concluded by a question-answer session and with a vote of thanks from the chairperson.
Day Long Awareness Campaign on Drug & Mental Health
The Social Counseling Centre of UAP organized a day-long awareness campaign on drugs and mental health issues on 15 January 2019 at the UAP plaza. The objective of this campaign was to make students aware of drugs and mental health issues.
The program was designed with different kinds of activities throughout the day. There were ribbons on which different statements were written like, “I am drug-free, are you?”, “Mental health matters!” etc. The volunteers of the campaign took position on the university entrance and tied ribbon to each of the students. The students were also given leaflets where different information about availing mental health service was mentioned. There were oath boards on which the students put their hand impression with different colors to pledge that, they will remain drug-free. There were different assessment tools for mental health and addiction. There were different posters on which quotes related to mental health and drugs were written. There were also two boards on which the students wrote reasons, why one should keep oneself away from drugs.
 
The program was inaugurated by putting a hand impression on the oath board by Air Cdre (Retd) Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury, Director, DSW, UAP. This way of inaugurating made the students motivated and they expressed it with a big applause.
After the inauguration, the oath board was open for the students to put their hand impression and pledge that they will remain drug-free. Students put their hand impressions on the board throughout the day. They also wrote hundreds of reasons, why one should keep oneself away from drugs, like, ‘It damages our health, body and mind’, ‘For a healthy living’. These statements reflect their engagement, hope, and motivation to keep themselves away from drugs.
Throughout the day, the volunteers distributed around fifteen hundred ribbons and four hundred leaflets. There was also an opportunity to do initial assessments of mental health. There were several assessment tools, like, depression, anxiety, narcotics addiction, love obsession, personality assessment, anger, and hopelessness. The surrounding was made more colorful using different anti-drug drawings and statements.
A simple question can bring change in ones’ life because questions lead to answers and answer leads to appropriate action. The gathering and active participation of the students on the campaign indicate that a question was yielded and the students are motivated enough to answer and act accordingly.
Seminar on ‘ABC of Drugs & Addiction: Let’s Understand Drugs & Addiction for Better Prevention’
The Social Counseling Centre and the Social Awareness Club of the University of Asia Pacific (UAP) organized a seminar on ‘ABC of Drugs & Addiction: Let’s Understand Drugs & Addiction for Better Prevention’ on 13 December 2018 at the DBA Seminar Room of UAP.
Air Cdre (Retd) Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury, Director, DSW inaugurated the seminar with his welcome speech. The seminar then was facilitated by Dr. Ashique Selim, Lead Consultant Psychiatrist & Managing Director, PHWC. Dr. Selim first oriented the participants about what addiction actually is and then he talked about different kinds of drugs. While talking about the types he was also referring to the consequences of having those drugs. The way he broke the connotation of ‘addiction’ by bringing the perspective of cultural and social norms was so fascinating to the participants. The paradigm shift among the participants about the concept of addiction made the participants spontaneous and led them to talk more openly about their concerns related to drugs and addiction. The participants were keen to seek information about different types of drugs, understand more deeply what addiction actually is, and the possible ways to become free from drugs and addiction.
Mr. Selim also talked about non-substance addictions like the internet, virtual games, and gambling. It was quite an interactive session where more than sixty students participated. The session became further enriched with the historical knowledge and social perspectives of drugs by the Director, DSW.
Among others, Ms. Mahjabeen Gazi, Assistant Professor, and adviser of Social Awareness Club, Mr. Md. Rakibul Hasan and Ms. Saima Akhter, Socio Counselor, UAP were present.
Workshop on ‘Manage Your Exam Stress and Achieve More’
The Social Counseling Centre of the University of Asia Pacific (UAP) organized a workshop on ‘Manage Your Exam Stress and Achieve More’ on 15th November 2018 at the DBA seminar room of UAP.
Air Cdre (Retd) Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury, Director, DSW inaugurated the workshop with his welcome speech. Then the workshop was facilitated by the Socio Counselor of UAP Mr. Md. Rakibul Hasan. The workshop was designed with several group works, which helped the students to recognize the nature and severity of their stresses. Moreover, discussions were made on the usefulness of stress and how much of it is required to obtain the optimal performance in the exam. Following the discussion, students were provided with tools like ‘time management kit’ and ‘smart goal kit’ which helped them to manage those stressors and take better preparation before the exam. Other than this, the students were taught how to keep themselves calm during excessive stress with the help of diaphragmatic breathing and mindfulness exercises, which will help them to utilize their existing resources and do better in the exam.
 
The workshop was wrapped up by taking written feedback from the students on which they expressed their opinion about the effectiveness of the workshop.
Seminar on ‘Young People in Changing World: Obstacles & Opportunities’
The Social Counseling Centre of the University of Asia Pacific organized a seminar on ‘Young People in Changing World: Obstacles & Opportunities’ on 24 October 2018 in the seminar room of Department of Business Administration, UAP. The seminar was organized to celebrate World Mental Health Day 2018. The theme of these years’ world mental health day was ‘Young People and Mental Health in a Changing World’. Keeping the theme in mind the seminar was designed to address the psychological challenges that university students face in the modern world. The seminar addressed issues such as internet and substances abuses, cyberbullying, adjustment issues, and how the students can overcome those issues by building psychological resiliency. The key speakers of the seminar were Dr. Helal Uddin Ahmed, Associate Professor, Dept. of Child Adolescent & Family Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health, and Ms. Nissim Jan Sajid, Lead Counselor& Additional Managing Director, Psychological Health and Wellness Clinic, Dhaka.
Ms. Nissim talked about the importance of mental health for university going students and how that affects their academic achievement. She pointed out the difficulties that university going students face and showed recent research findings on adjustment issues, gender-based violence, cyberbullying, and substance abuse. Dr. Helal discussed what is psychological resiliency and how can young people develop psychological resiliency. He showed several research findings on depression, suicide, and substance abuse. He emphasized the severity of depression among young people. He pointed out that suicide is the second most leading cause of death among young people across the world. He explained the ways of becoming psychologically resilient and how students can restrain themselves from difficult life situations and contribute more to society. The seminar ended with a lively Q&A session.
Workshop on “How to Deal with Internet Addiction”
The Social Counseling Centre (SCC) of Directorate of Students’ Welfare (DSW), University of Asia Pacific (UAP) organized a workshop on ‘How to Deal with Internet Addiction’ on May 14, 2018, at DBA room no. 402 & 403.
The Socio Counselor of UAP Mr. Md. Rakibul Hasan, Intern Socio Counselors Ms. Shahina Akther & Ms. Ayesha Islam conducted the workshop. The workshop was segmented with several group works and games, which helped the students to recognize the nature and severity of their internet addiction. In addition, an elaborate discussion was made on the advantages and disadvantages of Internet use and symptoms of Internet addiction. Following the discussion, students were provided various tools like systematic desensitization that helped them to manage their addiction gradually. It was further discussed, how internet addicts can have a good sleep at night with the help of sleep hygiene techniques.
In the workshop, the participants disclosed many issues related to internet addiction that they are facing in their day-to-day life. Through this workshop, those issues were also addressed at the end of the workshop with a Q&A session.
Seminar on “Cyber Bullying & Youth Engagement”
The Social Counseling Centre (SCC) of Directorate of Students’ Welfare (DSW), University of Asia Pacific (UAP) organized a seminar on “Cyber Bullying & Youth Engagement” on May 16, 2018, at Backyard Plaza, UAP.
The seminar was inaugurated by Air Cdre (Retd.) Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury, Director, Directorate of Students’ Welfare, University of Asia Pacific (UAP). In his speech, the Director talked about the importance of this seminar in view of recent incidents at UAP as well as across the country where cyberspace was used for personal attack amounting to bullying and harassment. The key speakers of the seminar were Dr. Ahmed Helal, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health; Shaheed-Ul-Munir, Director, Bangladesh Computer Council, and Ms. Farzana Wahid Sayan, Singer & Social Activist.
 
Mr. Helal emphasized the notion of cyberbullying and the paradigm shift of this notion with the advanced use of the internet and technology. He talked about how cyberbullying is affecting the mental health and well-being of university going students. He elaborately discussed the types of cyberbullying and its effects on youth. He wrapped up his speech by letting the participants know about some effective techniques to keep ourselves safe from being cyberbullied.
Mr. Munir talked about how university going students are being affected by the unsafe use of the internet and cyber technology and discussed ways to remain safe while using cyberspace. He also focused on various positive aspects of internet use and suggested the youth to get more engaged in those activities.
Ms. Sayan brought her personal experiences of being bullied at her young age and encouraged the participants to raise awareness by discussing openly the mental health issues. She also emphasized the practice of showing respect and kindness to the unprivileged people of our society by singing two of her songs.
The seminar was facilitated in an interactive manner and the participants were very much engaged throughout the session. It was wrapped with a vote of thanks to the speakers by Mr. Md. Rakibul Hasan, Socio Counselor, Social Counseling Centre, DSW, UAP. Among others, Assistant Director, DSW, Md. Tarek Khan, Intern Socio Counselors Ms. Shahina Akhter, and Ms. Ayesha Islam were present.
UAP members attended the ‘Gender and Sexual & Reproductive Health Conference for Young Adults 2018’
In a rapidly modernizing Bangladesh, young people face constant emotional and mental challenges to their personal well-being, access to information, and choices regarding their bodies, particularly, as they relate to gender identity, sexual and reproductive health. To address these issues, BRAC University JPG School of Public Health organized a day-long conference on ‘Gender and Sexual & Reproductive Health Conference for Young Adults 2018’on January 30, 2018. 36 members including students, faculty and staff from the University of Asia Pacific (UAP) attended the conference, along with students from different public and private universities of Dhaka. Their participation was facilitated by the Social Counseling Centre (SCC) of UAP.
The conference aimed to collaboratively share and examine current global, regional and local scholarship on emotional well-being and self-esteem, negotiation of gender roles and sexuality and expectations, and navigating contemporary social relationships among young people.
The interactive panels of the conference were divided into four sessions, namely: the Importance of Emotional Life and Well-being of Young Adults, the Importance of Being a Young Women, Being a Young Man, and the Importance of Technology and Relationships. Renowned academicians, researchers, and gender specialists conducted the sessions.
There was a Q&A period at the end of each session where students came up with their own queries about the issues under discussion and their own concerns.
Seminar on ‘Early Emotional Relationship’
The Social Counseling Centre (SCC) of Directorate of Students’ Welfare (DSW) at the University of Asia Pacific (UAP) organized a seminar on ‘Early Emotional Relationship’ on 18th January 2018 at its’ permanent campus. Renowned psychologist and counselor Ms. Farida Akhtar, Chief Executive, ‘Inner Force’ gave a talk in a seminar on ‘Early Emotional Relationship’. She talked about the turmoils that adolescents and early adults face when dealing with the emotion of love. She also discussed how during the process of searching or experiencing this emotion, people go through lots of ups and downs particularly in the period of adolescence and early adulthood. She outlined the sufferings these age groups face while having an intimate relationship, especially in terms of academic performance. She illustrated each of her points from her own experiential knowledge of dealing with many affairs related counseling cases.
At the end of the speech, there was a Q&A session where participants came up with their own experiences of having this emotion. They were curious about how to deal with the intense emotions of love. There was a lively Q&A session in which Mr. Md. Rakibul Hasan, Socio Counselor of UAP also participated. The seminar was wrapped up by a chorus ‘Ami Banglay Gaan Gai’ sung by all participants.
Workshop on “How to Deal with Exam Stress”
The Social Counseling Centre (SCC) under the Directorate of Students’ Welfare (DSW) of the University of Asia Pacific (UAP) organized a workshop on ‘How to Deal with Exam Stress’ on 27th November 2017 at its permanent campus.
The Socio Counselor of UAP Mr. Md. Rakibul Hasan conducted the workshop. The workshop was arrayed with several group works, which helped the students to recognize the nature and severity of their stresses. Besides the group work, the discussion was made on the usefulness of stress and how much of it is required to obtain optimal performance. Following the discussion, students were provided with tools like ‘time management kit’ and ‘smart goal kit’ which helped them to manage those stressors and take better preparation before the exam. It was further discussed, how some of our unrealistic thoughts are yielding excessive stress that's draining our mental energy. Other than this, the students went through a guided meditation, which helped them to utilize their different previous resources in order to cope with the existing stress.
The workshop ended by taking written feedback from the students on which they expressed their opinion on the effectiveness of this workshop and the effectiveness score was 4.64 out of 5.
Seminar on “Mental Health and Academic Performance”
The Social Counseling Centre (SCC) under the Directorate of Students’ Welfare (DSW) at the University of Asia Pacific (UAP) organized a seminar titled “Mental Health and Academic Performance” on 8th November, 2017at its permanent campus.
Renowned Psychiatrist Brig Gen (Retd.) Prof. Dr. Ashfaque Uzzaman Choudhury, Ex Advisor Psychiatrist, Bangladesh Army, Ex Prof. & Head, Dept. of Psychiatry, Armed Forced Medical College (AFMC) conducted the seminar. Prof. Ashfaque discussed the importance of mental health and well-being in pursuing a successful life. He talked about early symptoms when a person needs to look for professional mental health services like counseling. He also shared his diverse professional experiences of many years of working in this sector. During his lecture, he emphasized the students to avail of the on-campus counseling services at UAP. Prof. Ashfaque taught some techniques and encouraged the students to use those techniques to keep the body and mind fresh in order to find a successful academic life.
The seminar was attended among others by Mr. Takad Ahmed Chowdhury, Associate Professor & Head, Dept. of English, and the doctor of UAP.
Air Cdre (Retd.) Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury, Director, Directorate of Students’ Welfare (DSW), and Treasurer, UAP ended the session with a vote of thanks to Prof. Dr. Ashfaque Uzzaman Choudhury.
UAP organizes a seminar on Socio Counseling
The Directorate of Students’ Welfare (DSW) of the University of Asia Pacific (UAP) organized a seminar titled “Beautiful Mind, Beautiful You: A Counseling Approach” on August 10, 2017, at UAP East Plaza.
Renowned Psychologist Prof. Mehtab Khanam, Chairperson, Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, University of Dhaka conducted the seminar. Prof. Khanam shared her diverse professional experiences of many years working with university students. During her lecture, she emphasized the importance of socio-counseling to develop the well-being of the mind and body. Prof. Khanam taught some techniques and encouraged the students to use those techniques to keep the body and mind fresh and find inner peace.
 
The seminar was attended among others by Prof. Dr. M. R. Kabir, Pro VC, Air Cdre Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury (Retd), Director, DSW, and Mr. Sarwar R Chowdhury, Registrar, UAP. Mr. Qayum Reza Chowdhury, Chairman, Board of Trustees, UAP, ended the session with a vote of thanks to Prof Mehtab Khanam.
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