WECARE FUND

BACKGROUND

This project aims at enhancing the awareness of suicide and mental health issue through drama therapy workshops. It also hopes to assist peers with suicidal risk and emotional distress to open up themselves and engage in help seeking behaviours.

OBJECTIVE

The project aims to assist peers with suicidal risk/emotional distress to move on with drama therapy. Participants can express feelings and achieve catharsis through video shooting. Meanwhile, participants can share a common and lasting memory with their peers and develop a strong sense of competence and attachment with others.

METHODOLOGY

3 days of drama therapy workshops were conducted. During the workshops, participants were allowed to express their feelings freely through various types of exercises, such as mini drama, video shooting, a “goodbye ceremony” and sharing session among participants. Mini drama enabled participants to create characters for themselves and others, a goodbye ceremony to round up and debrief on drama therapy and a sharing sessions among participants on their thoughts and emotions.

IMPACTS AND OUTCOMES

For short-term outcome, participants considered the therapy workshops as emotional relief and learned ways to meditate. They have also reflected on daily schedule and encounters, explored and expressed their emotions and recharged through brain and physical exercises. They found these exercises very useful in managing stress.

For long-term, the project enhanced self-awareness and interpersonal skills of the participants. Most importantly, the targeted participants with emotionally depressed and had suicidal thoughts were successfully reached. Besides, participants gained collective memories throughout the therapy workshops and during video production. From gathering ideas for the video to shooting to forming a supportive and caring group, all of these have aid the fostering of positive emotions and mental well-being.

NUMBER OF BENEFICIARIES
10 Students
120 YouTube audience