More About Basic Counselling Workshop

The Basic Counseling Workshop organised by OnePeople.sg aims to enhance the ability of the Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circle (IRCC) members to exercise and convey empathy in the possible scenarios that they might encounter in their role in working with the grassroots and having to mediate various parties.

The 1-day Basic Counselling Workshop highlights the importance of having the ability to emphatise as IRCC members will need to be able to capture and relate to the emotional nuances of the people that they deal with.
Conducted by Mrs Ailene Wee and Ms Iris Lin of the Academy of Human Development, the Basic Counselling Workshop consists of 3 parts. In the first part, the participants were introduced to the concept of empathy and its critical role in being an effective people helper. References will then be made to their roles and responsibilities as an IRCC members and how they can better serve the community through the use of the newly acquired emphatic skill.

The course also covers specific media situations such as phone / email interview, spontaneous interview, formal interview, forum/panel discussion and press conference. Participants also had a go at crafting their own key messages as a hands-on exercise and discuss issues brought up in case studies such as Seditious tract duo who were jailed, the AWARE Saga and the teen racist blogger.

The second part of the workshop highlights the different types of techniques that serve to help them listen and respond emphatically in their role as mediators.

For the last part of the Basic Counselling Workshop, the participants take turns to role play various situations so using the skills that they have learnt earlier. Through role playing, the participants were able to practice and refine the skills that they have learned.

21 IRCC members participated in the latest run of the Basic Counselling Workshop conducted on Saturday, 26 May 2012. All of the participants were very satisfied with the workshop and are glad that they have signed up for the enriching and meaningful programme which they felt will come in useful in their line of work as an IRCC member and religious representative. OnePeople.sg will conduct more Basic Counselling Workshops in the future and community leaders are encouraged to sign up for it.

For enquiries, kindly contact Mr Ravi at 6253 3285 or send an email to: ravi@onepeople.sg.