By BIS Correspondent for BIS Mumbai

Mumbai: The young beneficiaries and staff at Shelter Don Bosco, Wadala, a Salesian home for the Young at Risk, took part in a Mental Health Awareness Week under the theme “Your Story Matters!” The activities, conducted through mid-October, marked the month dedicated to mental health care and awareness.

The week was conceptualized, planned and carried out by Ms Sanhita Ethape, Shelter’s in-house counsellor, with two psychology (counselling) interns from the nearby SNDT College. It aimed to help participants understand their emotions, accept themselves and learn simple ways to look after their well-being.

Many of the young people at the shelter come from vulnerable and underprivileged backgrounds and often carry heavy emotional burdens from their past. The shelter seeks to give them a place where they can be heard, understood and accepted as they are. The week grew out of that everyday effort.

The organizers divided residents and staff into four groups: children, junior college students, senior college students and staff members. Each group followed activities suited to its age and experience.

The children began with games built around feelings. Through Emotion Charades, Inside Out Characters, Draw My Emotion and sentence completion exercises, they learned to name happiness, sadness, anger and fear and to talk about them openly. They also practiced deep breathing as a way to calm down.

Staff members had a session of their own. They drew and painted freely, wrote a letter to their younger selves and shared childhood memories, exercises that invited personal reflection and kindness toward oneself.

Junior college students turned to questions of identity. The Squiggle Game, the Tree of Self and an exercise on what they share with others and what sets them apart helped them examine their values, strengths and hopes, and appreciate the differences among their peers.

Senior college students focused on accepting difficult emotions. After group discussions, they took part in the Orange Experiment and an activity contrasting reacting with responding. They also learned the 4-7-8 breathing exercise and the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique, two practical tools for handling stress and thinking before acting.

The week closed with a solo musical performance on the theme of different emotions by renowned artist Ms Sharvari Prabhu, followed by a question-and-answer session in which participants raised their own questions about stress, emotions and seeking help.

Every session helped participants recognise their emotions, value their individuality and explore healthy ways of coping. For staff members, it offered time to reflect and reconnect with their own experiences. The same message was the same throughout the week: each person’s feelings, experiences and story matter!