The Mental Health Act and Policy in Bangladesh aims to promote decentralized and community-based services for individuals with mental health conditions. In line with this Mental Health Act and Policy, the BRAC Mental Health Strategy aims to achieve these goals by 2030. The National Mental Health Survey 2019 revealed a 91.0% treatment gap in Bangladesh, attributed to factors such as stigma, negligent treatment-seeking behavior, and limited knowledge on mental health. Mental health degradation is a major concern due to urbanization, climate change, extreme heat, floods, economic instability, and lifestyle changes. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the prevalence of depressive, stress, and anxiety symptoms among various age cohorts. Potential resolutions might include addressing issues like inadequate mental health facilities, lack of skilled professionals, inefficient financial resource allocation, outdated policies, and stigma. To undertake these initiatives, there is a pertinent need for skilled psychologists. But unfortunately, Bangladesh has a shortage of psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health professionals, with approximately 216,000 individuals per professional. Besides that, many psychologists in the nation earn bachelor’s and/or master’s degrees, but they lack the required practical skills for imparting quality mental health services. It is evident that they require training and opportunities to become skilled psychologists to provide necessary mental health services. To address this concern, the Basic Counselling Course is a distinctive course for psychologists or psychology students who have completed or are enrolled in an academic course in the final year of their psychology graduation degree program.

This course provides the opportunity to engage in experiential learning required for early career exposure where the participants will learn how to listen, have compassionate understanding, use appropriate questioning, paraphrase, use encouragers, reflect on feelings, and more. Through in-depth self and literature exploration, this course gives participants the chance to assess and develop their basic counseling skills and approaches. The course is designed to prepare learners to communicate intentionally and consciously with others to better support individuals in need. Furthermore, basic psychological micro-skills/basic skills, psychological first aid, and crisis intervention are covered in this course. This course will assist in the development of basic counselling skills to positively impact the learner’s academic, professional, and personal life respectively.