Gurugram, Jul 24 (IANS): Adolescence is a time when youngsters undergo significant physical, emotional, and cognitive changes. These changes can be overwhelming or even traumatic for some impacting their mental health and the development of their personality and well-being in the future.

To help these children successfully navigate these crucial years of their lives, GD Goenka University in collaboration with Fortis Mental Health Programme organised a "National School Counselor's Summit on Risk Management, called VARTAH".

The two-day summit 'VARTAH' which stands for "Values - Awareness - Reform - Thrive - Action - Hope" was focused on managing risky behaviours in school children.

The initiative aims at nurturing a positive mental health culture within educationalecosystems.

It provides a platform to raise awareness, advocate positive changes, and initiatemeasures to promote the well-being of children and adolescents.

School counsellors andeducators across the country will have the opportunity to participate in it.

Emphasising the need to include mental health and well-being in the academic curriculum, Dr Samir Parikh, Chairperson, Fortis National Mental Health Program said: "Empowering children in their formative years with skills for life that help them navigate through ups and downs with confidence, self-belief and resilience is essential, that takes themon their paths of success, can have meaningful relationships and contribute to the society."

He stressed that promoting mental health among adolescents requires different roles fromsociety, parents, and the media. It is not the responsibility of any one party alone, and changecan only come when everyone works collectively.

Dr Parikh also spoke about the need to promote the concept of Psychological First Aid (PFA).

Addressing the gathering, he said: "We all talk about physical first aid, but nobody mentions psychological first aid. How you talk to people about mental health issues is part of psychological first aid. The more we learn about it and teach others, the better equipped we'llbe to educate society about it."

Sharing her thoughts on this unique initiative, Prof. (Dr) Anjali Midha Sharan, Dean, Research & Development and the School of Humanities, Social Science and Education,GD Goenka University said: "VARTAH shall focus on de-stigmatising mental illness andenabling counsellors with skills required for helping adolescents in vulnerableenvironments."

She added that the initiative "shall be an extension of the University's focus on propagatingmental well-being and integrating psychological health into mainstream education The eventbrings together mental health experts, school counsellors and teachers creating opportunitiesfor dialogue around action required for propagating the psychological well-being of theyouth.”

The event featured insightful talks by distinguished speakers from King's University Canada,James Cook University, Singapore, and several experts from international education.

The sessions focused on risk identification, proposing practical solutions to prevalent issues andchallenges in child and adolescent mental health.

Additionally, they shared preventivemeasures to address the concerns in diverse geographic and cultural settings worldwide.