Other Activities
World Suicide Prevention Day Observation
Date: 10 September 2023
The Department of Psychology commemorated World suicide prevention day scheduled on 10th September 2023 by organizing various activities. The main objectives of all the activities were to raise awareness about mental health, suicide prevention, and break the stigma surrounding these crucial issues.
The "Post It-Note" campaign was held on 7th Sept 2023 in the department. Students were warmly welcomed to participate by writing messages of support on sticky notes provided at the entrance of the staffroom. The sticky notes filled with messages of support and positivity were collected in a box. These notes were used to create a heart wall, which was displayed on 8th Sept and 9th Sept 2023 in the college for all the students. This installation was a tangible representation of the support and solidarity our college community extends to those struggling with mental health challenges. One significant aspect of the campaign was the active participation of students. Many students took the time to write heartfelt messages of encouragement and positivity on the sticky notes. It was heartwarming to see the genuine care and concern displayed by the students. In addition to post it-note activity, the final year undergraduate students of the department reached out to different suicide prevention helplines pan India and compiled a list of active helpline numbers which was displayed next to the heart wall.
In conclusion, the Suicide Prevention Day campaign organized by the Department of Psychology was a significant and impactful event. It not only raised awareness but also fostered a sense of empathy and support within our college community. This initiative has undoubtedly left a positive mark on our college and the students.
Proprium series- Expert Lecture on “The Fluid Concept of Self: Exploring Indian Philosophical Perspectives”
Date: 01 September 2023
Department of Psychology organized a Proprium series- Expert Lecture on “The Fluid Concept of Self: Exploring Indian Philosophical Perspectives” on the 1st of September 2023. The esteemed speaker of the day was Prof. Mukunda Rao, Prof (retired), Bangalore University, author, writer and playwright. The second and final year undergraduate students from the Department of Psychology were the participants.
The speaker Prof. Mukunda Rao delivered a throught provoking lecture on the concept of ‘self’ in the Indian context. The lecture challenged the traditional notions of self and emphasized its interconnectedness, fluidity, and complexity. Prof. Rao shared a contemporary view of self with an emphasis on perspectives derived from Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Additionally, the lecture delved into post-modernistic thinking, theories of universe creation, and the impact of conditioning on the concept of self.
Overall, it was an enlightening session, where the speaker encouraged the students to question their identities and embrace a more holistic understanding of the self. This understanding is opened up new avenues for personal growth, transformation, and the cultivation of empathy and compassion toward all beings. At the end of the session, students participated enthusiastically in the 30-minute question and answer round.
Placement Training and Orientation Programme
Date: 30 August 2023
The Center for Employability and Corporate Relations (CECR) and Departement of Psychology, Kristu Jaynati College organized a Placement Training and Orientation Programme for the III Semester, PG students of the Department of Psychology. Prof Sen B Mathews, Director, CECR, Kristu Jayanti College was the speaker of the day. Prof. Mathews introduced the class by briefly outlining the significance of GATE for the students. The purpose of placement orientation was to inform students of how the placement process works in the college and training programme through GATE – Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering that tests comprehensive understanding on various subjects for a job in public sector companies and providing complete support for arranging placement activities on the campus and recommending students to them for internship and placement. Students learnt about the value of professionalism, how to prepare for an interview, the value of communication, and how to conduct themselves in front of a business. The best place for the students to test their skills as the department will guide the students about the companies, the process, rounds, and much more. This helps students got a great grasp of the picture.
Life Skill Training for the 1st year PG Psychology students
Date: 23 to 26 August 2023
Department of psychology in association with centre for life skill organized life skill training for the 1st year PG Psychology students from August 23 to August 26, 2023.
The training programme is inaugurated by Dr. Sruthi Sivaraman, Head, Department of Psychology and Mr. Vigraanth Bapu K G, PG programme Coordinator.
The main objective of the programme was to train the students in different Life skills – Self-Awareness, Decision Making, Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Creative Thinking, Interpersonal Relationships, Empathy, Communication Skills, Coping with Emotions and Stress. Ms. Vimala M, Ms. Sharmili Chatterjee, Dr. Kiran Babu N C, Ms. Deena Dixon, Dr. Cynthia Sara James, Dr. Deepthi Vijayan, Dr. Lokesh L, Ms. Deepmala Sutar, Ms. Noor Fathima, Mr. Vigraanth Bapu KG, Dr. Anjana Sinha, Ms. Priyanka, Ms. Soumya Simon, Dr. Sukumar, Ms. Pooja DG, Ms. Naw Carolina, Ms. Sarah Saju, Anitha Mary Mathew are the resource persons for the programme.
Workshop on “Orientation to Group Counselling"
Date: 14 August 2023
The Department of Psychology at Kritu Jayanti College orchestrated a profound two-day workshop from August 21st to 22nd, 2023. This workshop tailored for the 3rd semester MSc Counselling Psychology students, delved into the intricate world of “Orientation to Group Counselling.” Mr. Anil V Iyer, a counselling psychologist and seasoned professional in the field, guided 55 enthusiastic participants through a comprehensive exploration of group counselling dynamics.
Mr. Iyer commenced the workshop with an enlightening introduction to group counselling, laying the groundwork for the ensuing discussions. He deftly navigated through the similarities and distinctions between group counselling and its individual counterpart, fostering a holistic understanding of their applications and nuances. Throughout the sessions, the structural underpinnings of group counselling sessions were meticulously unveiled. The therapeutic processes inherent within group dynamics were explored in depth, accompanied by a meticulous breakdown of the employment of counselling skills within a group context. The multifaceted utility and overarching objectives and goals of group counselling were elucidated, granting participants a comprehensive grasp of its scope and potential. An integral facet of the workshop encompassed a comprehensive exploration of group leadership. Mr. Iyer meticulously delineated the qualities of an effective group leader, emphasizing the indispensable role they play in facilitating constructive group dynamics. The intricacies of ethical and professional considerations in group counselling were thoroughly examined, fostering awareness among participants regarding potential challenges and best practices.
The workshop was characterized by Mr. Iyer's ingenious pedagogical approach, engaging participants through a creative activity. Attendees were divided into groups and tasked with collaboratively crafting posters depicting their envisioned group counselling scenarios. This hands-on endeavor not only fostered active participation but also spurred innovative thinking and practical application of concepts. Mr. Iyer seamlessly intertwined theoretical insights with real-world practical experiences, bridging the gap between academia and practice. His expertise shone through as he expertly navigated complex concepts, cultivating a profound and meaningful learning experience. His encouraging demeanour and commitment to fostering an enriching environment empowered participants to ardently engage with the subject matter. The resounding impact of the workshop was palpable in the collective sentiment of gratitude and admiration expressed by the attendees. Mr. Iyer's insights and methodologies were transformative, allowing participants to grasp the essence of group counselling as both a theoretical construct and a potent therapeutic modality. In conclusion, the Department of Psychology at Kritu Jayanti College successfully orchestrated a workshop that significantly enriched the academic journey of 3rd semester MSc Counselling Psychology students. The collaboration with Mr. Anil V Iyer, an esteemed resource person, bridged theory and practice, leaving a lasting impact on participants. This workshop’s success paves the way for future collaborations that foster holistic learning experiences and equip aspiring counselling psychologists with practical wisdom for their academic and professional pursuits.
Anti-Ragging Campaign
Date: 14 August 2023
Humanity is one of the most important life skill amongst all other skills that an individual requires to grow in life and it is learnt through experience and having experts talk about it.
An informative campaign on “Anti-Ragging” was organized by The Department of Psychology in association with The Department of Law at Kristu Jayanti College, Autonomous, Bangalore to spread awareness amongst the students on Ragging.
Ms. Shreya Thomas, Faculty, Department of Psychology welcomed the honourable guest Ms. Raksha Prakash, Faculty, Department of Law and introduced her to the audience. Along with the students, Dr. Sruthi Sivaraman, Head of the Psychology Department; Ms.Vimala Arun, UG Coordinator, Department of Psychology; and the Faculty Department of Psychology were present amongst the audience.
The event then commenced with Ms.Vimala Arun presenting a token of honour to Ms. Raksha Prakash. The guest speaker took up the stage for an informative and interactive session on what ragging is and why it is necessary to spread awareness amongst the youth about the Anti-Ragging Campaign and how to seek help.
The history of ragging, Indian Penal Codes that safeguard students’ rights, consequences of engaging in ragging, appropriate ways to seek assistance, how to report ragging, and instances that led to the creation of such laws in support of students were all explained to the students.
Students were informed about how the university may assist students who are dealing with such problems as the session came to a close. Ms. Vimala Arun offered the vote of gratitude.
Perspective of Film as a Multidisciplinary Text on Mental Health Research
Date: 09 August 2023
An Interesting workshop on “Perspective of Film as a Multidisciplinary Text on Mental Health Research” was organized by the Department of Psychology in association with The Psychology Club at Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore, for 1st, 3rd and 5th semester students of BA Psychology.
Ms. Shreya Thomas (Psychology Club Coordinator), Faculty, Department of Psychology Welcomed the honorable guest of the day, Mr. Sourav Sarkar (Film Maker and Educator) and introduced him to the enthusiastic audience. Along with the students, Dr. Sruthi Sivaraman, Head of the Department Psychology, Ms. Vimala Arun, UG Coordinator, Department of Psychology, and the Faculty, Department of psychology were also seated among the audience. The event then commenced with Ms. Vimala Arun, UG Coordinator- Department of Psychology, presenting a token of honour and respect to the guest Mr. Sourav Sarkar.
Mr. Sourav soon took up the stage to unravel his experience of film making from a psychological and a sociological perspective to the audience. Following this, a short fictional film, ‘Anoochcharito’ was shown to the audience to enhance the creativity and perspective of the curious young minds.
The session concluded with an interactive session between the students and the speaker and a closing note by Ms. Naw Carolina Ashu (Psychology Club Coordinator), Faculty- Department of Psychology.
Orientation on Experimental Psychology and Movie Screening
Date: 09 August 2023
An orientation was held on Experimental psychology for 1st year students of BA Psychology, PYJO and PYEN by the Department of Psychology.
Ms. Sharmili Chatterjee, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, delivered an informative and engaging talk on the importance of experimental psychology, principles, hypothesis and many more aspects of the subject in the first half of the afternoon session.
The orientation was followed by a movie screening held by the Department of Psychology in association with the psychology club to help the students understand some basic components of the subject which would help each one of the young minds to be a better person and a better psychologist. The movie which was screened was titled “Inside Out” which is an animated movie that shows the importance of all the basic emotions (joy, sadness, anger, fear & disgust) and how acknowledging each emotion regardless of whether they are pleasant or unpleasant is crucial in life.
The session ended with a brief on the psychological aspect of the movie and how to practice it in our daily life by Ms. Naw Carolina Ashu (Psychology Club Coordinator)- Assistant professor, Department of Psychology.
Value-Added Course on “Personal Branding”
Date: 28/07/2023 to 02/08/2023
The Department of Psychology organised a Value-Added Course on “Personal Branding” for III semester M.Sc. Psychology, M.Sc. Clinical Psychology, M.Sc. Counselling Psychology students from 28/07/2023 to 02/08/2023.
The values added course focused on the key elements of building a personal band. The resource persons helped the students to understand the need for personal branding as a psychologist and the various platforms that would help them to build the personal brand. The sessions were interactive and included a lot of activities for the students to be able to understand and implement the various aspects learnt during the session in the real life scenario. Students had to work on daily assignments based on the day’s learning. About 240 students attended the value added course and benefited from the session. Overall, it was a time of deep introspection, learning and application of personal branding techniques in the field of Psychology.
Value Added Course on “Professional Skills on Internship”
Date: 25/07/2023 to 01/08/2023
Department of Psychology organised a Value Added Course on “Professional Skills on Internship” for III semester BA (BA Hons /PYJO/PYPA) students from 25/07/2023 to 01/08/2023.
The main motto of the training was to enlighten the students about the skills required to be an intern in an organisation, different behavioural styles and the significance of internship techniques. About 124 students benefitted from the course. The resource person for the sessions were in-house faculty members, which created a comfortable ambience for the students to carry on the activities like role plays, poster making, and group discussion. Overall, sessions were interactive, with an assignment on essential skills required to be a good intern. The students took up an examination to complete the course. The students’ feedback was positive and the experiential learning made the course interesting and effective.
Reorientation program for our III Semester PG Psychology
Date: 27 July 2023
The department of psychology organized a reorientation program on July 27, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. in the M1 auditorium, Main Block for III semester MSc Psychology, MSc Counselling Psychology and MSc Clinical Psychology students. Mr. Vigraanth Bapu, PG Programme Coordinator, Department of Psychology, warmly welcomed the gathering and introduced the department's new faculty members. He also played a crucial role in the event by briefing the attendees about upcoming departmental events. Dr. Deepthi Vijayan, Faculty, Department of Psychology, emphasized the Jayantian Code of Conduct.
The department reorientation to activities and code of conduct successfully equipped our students with essential knowledge and motivation for their academic pursuits and personal development.
Reorientation programme for our III and V Semester BA Psychology (PYEN, PYJO, and PYPA)
Date: 24 July 2023
The Department of Psychology organized a reorientation programme on July 24, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. in the M1 auditorium, Main Block. The participants were III semester BA Psychology , Psychology and English/Journalism/Performing Arts students and V semester BA Psychology, Psychology and English/Journalism/Performing Arts students.
Dr. Sruthi Sivaraman, the Head of the Department of Psychology, warmly welcomed the gathering and introduced the newly joined faculty members. Ms. Vimala M, UG Programme Coordinator, Department of Psychology, played a crucial role in the event by briefing the attendees about new initiatives and upcoming departmental events. Her encouraging words motivated students to explore the diverse opportunities for self-improvement provided by the department and college. Emphasizing that the Jayantian Code of Conduct was an integral part of the program, Ms. Vimala M urged all students to actively participate in departmental activities scheduled for the academic year. Ms. Anitha Mathew, faculty, Department of Psychology, delivered an informative session on Psychology lab etiquette. This provided valuable insights into maintaining a professional environment within psychology practical labs.
The department's reorientation on code of conduct successfully equipped our students with essential knowledge and motivation for their academic pursuits and personal development.
Movie Screening - A Sneak Peak into Late Adulthood
Date: 17 April 2023
The Movie Screening titled ‘A Sneak Peak into Late Adulthood’ took place on Pg. Block, 5th floor, P1 Auditorium on 17th April 2023. It was held from 11 am to 12:45 pm. It commenced with an introduction by Ms. Diya Ann Anil from BA JPEng-B, who was also the student coordinator of the Psychology Club. She highlighted the importance of being aware of old age and the need to take care of the elderly. Prof. Naw Carolina Ashu, teacher coordinator of the Psychology Club
Addressed the gathering and asked them to take down notes in order to submit a report. After this, the movie was screened for 1 hour 45 minutes. The students thoroughly enjoyed it and were able to relate it to developmental psychology. The Photography team for the event included Ms. Jicy Joy and Ms. Pooja from BA JPEng-B. After the movie was screened, Ms. Sharmili Chaterjee gave a few key points regarding it and helped the students to connect it to various real-life situations. The vote of thanks was then given by MS. Diya Ann Anil after which the event was concluded.
‘Young Researchers Meet- 2023’ - ‘Qualitative Research Analysis’
Date: 13 April 2023
The Department of Psychology of Kristu Jayanti College, Bengaluru, organized the ‘Young Researchers Meet- 2023’ on 13th April at the M3 Auditorium, Main Block. The forum was for students and young researchers, who are determined to play a proactive role in scientific progress. The programme started with a silent prayer, after which Dr. Anjana Sinha (Event Coordinator) delivered the welcome address. The resource person for the guest lecture on ‘Qualitative Research Analysis’ was Dr. Anuradha S, Professor, Department of Psychology, Christ University, Bengaluru. She started her session with a humorous and light-hearted rapport building with the students and teachers. Further, she discussed the basic differences between qualitative and quantitative research. She then discussed the correct way to write a qualitative research paper, its different components, and different factors to keep in mind when approaching this research method. To maintain the interest of the students, Dr. Anuradha engaged them in amusing activities such as singing ‘Baa-baa-black sheep’ while standing and waving their hands. It was an interactive, fun, and engaging session for the teachers as well as for the students.
After the short break, there was a paper presentation session for the IV semester Psychology Honours students. Dr. Sruthi Sivaraman chaired the session and Prof. Sharmila Chatterjee moderated the presentations. There were five paper presentations in total, and Sruthi Ma’am gave her valuable suggestions to them in modifying their research paper. It was an outstanding learning experience for the students.
Workshop on Transcendental Meditation
Date: 10 April 2023
A workshop was organized by the Department of Psychology, Kristu Jayanti College on 10/04/2023. The chief guest for the event was Dr. Gopukumar Kumarpillai, a Neuropsychologist. He has over 15 years of clinical/research experience in the field of Psychology from The National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS); and at Foothills Hospital, Department of Neurosciences, Calgary University, Canada. He also has 10 years of organization management experience.
He has made more than 80 professional presentations, nationally and internationally. Under his guidance, several students have been awarded Ph.D. and currently, he is guiding many Ph.D./M.Phil., research work. He has served as an external examiner for his MPhil/Ph.D. degree. His co-authored NIMHANS Neuropsychology Battery (1st edition in 2004 and now in its 2nd Edition - printing) is the only Neuropsychology battery widely used in India. He received an international travel grant for his research work on cognitive changes and HIV1 & 2 (Italy and Canada); and cognitive impairment & Epilepsy (China). His research interests are in Neuropsychology, Behaviour Technology, Counselling Psychology, Educational Psychology, Sports Psychology, Cognitive Impairment & Retraining, Alternative therapy, and Stress Management. The workshop focused on Transcendental Meditation (TM) which is a type of meditation that was developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the mid-1950s. Through the workshop, we learned that TM is based on the idea that each person has a transcendental state of consciousness that is beyond waking, sleeping, and dreaming. By practicing TM, individuals can access this state of deep restful awareness, which can lead to a range of benefits such as reduced stress, improved mental clarity, increased creativity, and better overall health. We also learned that TM has been extensively studied over the years and has been found to have a range of positive effects on physical and mental health.
We also learned about various other breathing techniques and their benefits. We had the opportunity to learn about hypnosis and the statistical distribution of the population who are considered suggestible for hypnosis. The session also provided us with the opportunity to gain more knowledge about pressure points.
We concluded the session with a Deep Relaxation technique post in which students shared their views and experience. The participants also asked various questions and exchanged views about spirituality, psychology, stress management, and various other subjects.
Overall, it was an honor to learn so much about TM, hypnosis, stress management, spirituality, and various other topics from one of the well-known neuropsychologists in India.
International Day of Autism Awareness
Date: 03 April 2023
Department of Psychology, Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore observed the International Day of Autism Awareness in collaboration with the United Nations Academic Impact. Two first-year Psychology Journalism students, Ms. Diya, and Ms. Rima assembled a video where students were talking about what they knew about autism and about the importance of spreading awareness about the same. The video also consisted of a professor giving a clinical explanation about the autistic condition among children and how to deal with the same. The faculty coordinators of the program were Ms. Mahashwetha Chakraborty and Ms. Arya A Menon.
Workshop on Dance and Movement Therapy
Date: 06 and 10 March 2023
The Department of Psychology conducted a workshop on Dance and Movement Therapy for the Final year students of MSc in Counselling and Psychology on 6th March 2023 and 10th March 2023. The two days workshop was led by Ms. Diana Tholoor.
Ms. Diana has many years of experience in Theatre Film Maker, Dance, and Training for Corporate people. She works with individuals of different ages, genders, and abilities.
Her zestful personality spread among the students as she began her session. Her energy and motivation filled the room as she spoke about why she was there and focused on how she even teaches the elderly dance. She explained what dance really is, contrary to the beliefs we hold about dance. The session consisted of various movements and activities.
On 6th March 2023, the students were divided into nine groups consisting of ten students each. She was observant and conversed with various students. She then began a song and initiated everyone to dance their hearts out. It involved all the students to come up with their composition of movements. The groups were assigned the task to come up with their own movements for a song and they would be required to present the same on stage. All the groups were given time to practice and come up with their own unique choreography. After the practice, each one of the groups came up on stage and presented their work. All of them showcased the fun and exciting ways of using different kinds of steps to match the rhythm of the song. The post-task activity included creatively naming their groups and answering the following questions:
1. Why did we choose these sets of movements and how did each member contribute to them?
2. What did we expect when we chose and executed those movements?
3. Could we name those emotions experienced?
4. Did anyone experience resistance from the team? If so, how did the group overcome the same?
5. Did we get what we expected? What would we change in it?
6. The day ended with the students delivering their answers with the help of charts in various manners and presenting their work in front of everyone.
On 10th March 2023, the session began with talking about the importance of movement. The previously formed groups were seated together and instructed to perform a set of rhythmic movements that are applied to make individuals calm and focused. The students were asked to come up with one set of unique clapping movements that can be easily followed by all individuals in psychological settings. Following that they were also asked to come up with some dance steps again keeping in mind the different kinds of populations and their needs. Each group was then asked to present their steps. To end the two-day workshop, Diana Ma’am expressed gratitude to everyone. Ms. Lekha from second year MSc. Psychology gave the vote of thanks. The learning intake from the sessions with Diana Ma’am will be of immense help to the students in their career.
Workshop on Tools and Techniques of Family Therapy
Date: 06 March 2023
The Department of Psychology conducted a workshop on Tools and Techniques of Family Therapy for the final year students of M.Sc. in Psychology/Counselling/Clinical on the 20th of March, 2023. Ms. Kashish Kataria, a student with M.Sc. in Counselling Psychology final year, introduced the resource person - Dr. Fr. Anish Seban Cheripurath, Director of Santhitheeram Institute of Couple and Mental Health Centre in Kerala, and she handed over the session to him.
Fr. Seban greeted the crowd and spoke about the uniqueness of counseling with couples. He specifically pointed out how unique each couple is and how important it is for us to pay attention to this point while clinically working with them. Father spoke about specific ground rules to be mentioned while beginning the family therapy, such as essential details of the couple/family, the consent form, introducing oneself, and the couple, and talking about confidentiality. He depicted this to the students through role-play, which made it easier for everyone to understand. He further explained, how as a therapist, one needs to make sure that the couple does not conflict with each other while speaking about their problems during the therapy but rather focuses on talking about their side of the story. As a therapist, one should also focus on the underlying cause rather than focusing on the superficially depicted issue. Fr. Seban exhibited many instances to the students through videos, where daily conflicts could lead to troubles in the marriage life. He also emphasized the psychological needs of a husband and a wife that is required to be fulfilled by the opposite gender. Failing to do so can lead to issues in intimacy and marriage.
Post that, Father called upon two students to volunteer for a role-play, wherein they were given a marriage satisfaction scale in a therapy setting to fill in. The rest of the students were also provided with a marriage satisfaction scale copy to fill in and to have a brief idea about it.
Many questionnaires and scales were given throughout the scale, which sir specifically uses in his therapy sessions. They were - Psychological Needs Worksheet, Intimacy Form, Caring Days Assessments, and The Marriage Expectation Inventory.
Sir also performed various activities to keep the energy alive among the students. The students were asked to mention their expectations of their future partner, some of which were discussed later on, and he discussed how different each of our psychological needs is and the uniqueness of each requirement. There was another role-play conducted, where the students participated enthusiastically. The students dispersed after the activity for the afternoon break.
After the break, everyone settled in. Father introduced us to the Magic Ratio given by John Gottman, a renowned family therapist. He gave the students a magic ratio of 5:1 which means that for each negative conversation during an argument, a blissful and happy marriage would have five or more positive conversations. He explained this to everyone with various examples, which made it easier for the students to understand. Then a role-play session was conducted, which focused on premarital counseling. In the role play, couples had issues that needed to be resolved before marriage. An assessment for the same can help in dealing with that conflict. After that, Father Seban showed the students how couples can lead their married life better. He said that he always suggests his clients to each other in public and criticizes in them private. This helps in dealing with problems in a better manner. He also mentioned the importance of maintaining boundaries in and around the marriage. He further discussed anger management and was briefed on how to overcome it. Finally, Father showed everyone the structure of couple therapy, which begins with couples filling out the forms, introducing each other and mentioning ground rules, having a shared session, assessing intimacy, conducting individual sessions, and psychological interpretation by the therapist.
Father answered the question posed by curious students. Ms. Kashish thanked him for his valuable presence. The workshop ended with a photo session, followed by students dancing joyfully.
Manodarshan: Psychology exhibition
Date: 28 February 2023
Department of Psychology organized Manodarshan, a Psychology exhibition on 28th February 2023 in the M1 auditorium from 9:50 am – 4:30 pm. The chief guests for the day were Fr Emmanuel PJ, Director of Kristu Jayanti College of Law, and Dr. Gopa Kumar AV, Dean of Humanities, Kristu Jayanti College. A promotion took place at the quadrangle where a skit was performed related to the movie ‘black swan’ was. The promotion was witnessed by various teachers and students from various departments. At the inaugural ceremony, Fr Emmanuel asked all the students about their models and assessments. Fr Emmanuel gave a short speech in which he mentioned how impressed he was with the students as there were more participants this year compared to last year. A vote of thanks was delivered by Prof Shreya Thomas. There were 180 participants from both UG and PG departments. There were still models, working models, and demonstrations/assessments at the exhibition. St Vincent Palloti school and the National Institute of Open Schooling were the two schools that visited the exhibition. Fr Jais V Thomas, Financial administrator of Kristu Jayanti College, and Fr Deepu Joy, Director of student welfare of Kristu Jayanti college visited the exhibition. The other visitors were students from different departments. Fr Deepu Joy was invited to the valedictory session and he also gave away the prizes to the winners. Through Manodarshan, the students acquired many insights into different theories related to psychology. The event was a huge success and the feedback received from the visitors was very good and positive.
International lecture series - ‘Relationships- Source of both Woundedness and Healing’
Date: 13 February 2023
The department of Psychology organized an insightful lecture on the topic- ‘Relationships- Source of both Woundedness and Healing’ in association with the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, USA on the 13th of February, 2023. The virtual lecture series was witnessed by the final-year students of the department of psychology. Our esteemed resource person for the day was Dr. Regina Boerio who is a professor of Psychology, Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. The session was graced by the presence of Dr. Tiffany Boury, Coordinator of global academic partnerships, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel P.J., Director of International relations Office, Kristu Jayanti College, and the faculty members of the department.
Dr. Regina began the lecture by sharing some facts about the dynamics of relationships and the importance of every individual’s perspective in the cohesiveness and understanding that bears the foundation of any kind of relationship. She shared some glimpses of her personal experiences with clients and threw light up on their behavioral changes after taking up psychotherapy which aided them to understand themselves as well as their counterparts better. She also spoke about the different challenges faced during the therapeutic process and the ways in which she dealt with them.
As the session concluded, the floor was open for queries just as the students raised their questions and cleared doubts regarding the topic of discussion. Dr. Regina Boerio was enthralled by the response from the students and the session concluded with a formal vote of thanks.
Industry-Academia Interaction Series
Date: 17 February 2023
A session on Industry-Academia Interaction Series was conducted for the students of M.Sc. Psychology and M.Sc. Counseling on February 17, 2023, at 1:30 p.m. The objective of the session was to bridge the gap between the corporate world reality and academia. The session was conducted by Ms. Rinku Thomas, General Human Resource Manager, HCL. Many aspects were discussed, such as the importance of upskilling and staying relevant in the area of expertise. Several questions regarding entering corporate entry from the freshers’ perspective were discussed by the resource person and she emphasized that a Master’s degree holds great value in the market and a fresher should be open to all kinds of experiences and challenges.
We were also enlightened about various policies and measures taken by the companies during the pandemic and post-pandemic. Some of the measures included compensating the family by providing a job for one of the family members in case the employee is the sole breadwinner in the family and providing a life coach to all the employees to help them deal with their emotions pertaining to their personal lives. These life coaches were either volunteers from the HR team, psychologists, or psychiatrists. The key takeaway from the session was that there is no substitute for hard work.
Symposium titled: “Life Adjustment in Young Adulthood
Date: 04 February 2023
The Symposium titled ‘Life Adjustment in Young Adulthood’ took place in PG Block 5th floor Mini Auditorium on 4th February 2023. It was held from 10 am to 12:00 pm. It commenced with an introduction given by Prof. Deepmala Sutar, who was also the emcee for the day. The Head of the Department, Prof. Dr. Molly Joy, graced the occasion by delivering the welcome address, followed by nine speakers, who are professors from the Department of Psychology. The first speaker was Dr. Anjana Sinha, who spoke on Parenting Adjustment and how she continued to maintain a bond with her children even after staying away from them for work. The next speaker was Dr. Kiran, who spoke on Parenting Adjustment and adjusting with in-laws, followed by Mr. Vigraanth Bapu, who briefed about his experiences in taking up household responsibilities and marital life adjustment. Dr. Cynthia Sara James was the next speaker who spoke on the responsibilities of parenthood and marital lifestyle. Then Dr. Deepthi D. P. spoke about her long-distance relationship with her husband after marriage. Ms. Procheta Mahanta was the next speaker who spoke on marital adjustment, household responsibilities, and gender roles. Dr. Lokesh L expressed his thoughts about vocational life, disclosed the challenges he faced, and emphasized the importance of working during young adulthood. The next speaker was Dr. Arjun Sekhar, who spoke on non-marital lifestyles. The last speaker was Ms. Soumya Simon, who spoke about the life experiences that molded her, several challenges she faced in her career, and her adjustment to a single lifestyle. The 2nd year students of UG Psychology were the audience and they were encouraged to write down their doubts on small slips of paper. Prof. Naw Carolina Ashu and Ms. Sharmili Chaterjee were the Teacher Coordinators for the event. The photography team for the event included students from the media team as well.
The vote of thanks was given by Prof. Deepmala Sutar and the event concluded with great applause.
Documentary Screening
Date: 30 January 2023
The documentary series ‘House of Secrets’ directed by Leena Yadav and Anubhav Chopra was screened for BA - JPCS, PEP, and JPEng – A and B students. It was organized by the Department of Psychology on 30th January 2023.
The Netflix documentary is a three-part true crime series, which focuses on the mysterious deaths of eleven members of a family in Delhi’s Burari neighborhood in 2018. The series traces the mystery behind the deaths and also attempts to answer what led to them. Before the screening of the movie, we were asked to focus on the biosocial and psychological aspects of the series.
After the screening of the docuseries, there was a discussion on psychosis, the effectiveness of social autopsy, and psychology autopsy. The students also discussed it from both journalistic and psychological perspectives. In the end, students had some insight into the biosocial and psychological aspects of the series.
Expert Lecture on Clinical Picture of Addiction
Date: 25 January 2023
Department of Psychology organized a proprium series on 25th January 2023 in the A1 conference hall from 10 am -12.30 pm. The resource person for the guest lecture series ‘Clinical Picture Of Addiction’ was Dr. P.N. Thomas, Retired Professor & HOD, Clinical Psychology, SRM University.
The resource person was familiarized with the students by Dr. Molly Joy. The objective of the guest lecture series was to disseminate knowledge on Addiction among postgraduate students of Clinical Psychology and Counselling Psychology. The session alleged on differentiating psychological diseases and disorders. The focus was also laid on differentiating use, dependence, and substance abuse. The impact of abuse on protective factors. DSM criteria were discussed with extreme curiosity-building factors among the students. Finally, the consequence of building tolerance and indications of withdrawal symptoms were explained with real-life examples.
Dr. P.N. Thomas enlightened the students with the study findings on the genetic predisposition of Alcoholism in children of alcoholics.
177 participants attended the guest lecture and shared their valuable feedback on the relevance of the topic.
Proprium Series on International Opportunities for Pursuing Higher Education and Career in Psychology
Date: 09 January 2023
The Department of Psychology, Kristu Jayanti College, organized an interaction with resource person Mr. Sahen Gupta in association with the Office of International and Domestic Relations on January 9th, 2023. Mr. Sahen Gupta is a lecturer in applied sports and exercise psychology at Portsmouth University, United Kingdom. He was welcomed heartily with a sapling presented to him by Dr. Molly Joy, Head, Department of Psychology, Kristu Jayanti College. Mr. Sahen Gupta began the session by engaging the students with his experience as a student, academician, practitioner, and researcher in the field of psychology and tied it into the various opportunities that students have as they look towards building a footing in the same. He shared insight into the scope of Psychology and the multiple domains accessible to students both in India and abroad, specifically in the UK. He elucidated the same by drawing on personal experiences and those of his peers to provide a deeper understanding of how the skills acquired in every individual domain can further provide the scope of work in other realms of work. He even shared how a student in India can apply for master's courses and research opportunities in the UK. The students were brimming with questions at the end of his enriching talk and felt a lot of insight and new perspectives coming their way. The primary takeaway from the session was regarding the vast scope that Psychology as a field offers to budding professionals and how tapping into one's potential, abilities, and interests, every individual can contribute to the area in their unique way and build a successful career for themselves. Mr. Sahen took the time to address the various curiosities of the students, and the session concluded with a vote of thanks expressing the department's gratitude to him for his valuable wisdom and time.
Research Internship Orientation
Date: 16 November 2022
The Department of Psychology (PG) organized a seminar on ‘Research internship orientation’ as part of the proprium series for IIIrd semester MSc Psychology, MSc Clinical & MSc Counselling Psychology students on 16 November 2022 from 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM at M1 auditorium. Dr. Binoy V.V, Scientist at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS, Bangalore) was the resource person.Fr. Emmanuel PJ, Director Kristu Jayanti College of Law, Dr. Molly Joy HOD, Dept. of Psychology & Mr. Vigraanth Bapu K.G, P.G Program coordinator, Dept. of Psychology grazed the occasion.
Dr.Binoy, whose area of research is science communication & education said that it is his responsibility to spend time with the next generation. He said he is repaying his debt to VS Ramamurthi, his mentor. The various aspects of internship from the angle of a principal investigator and from a student’s angle were covered in the seminar. He explained what is expected from an intern by a Principal investigator, the benefits and needs of a student to do an internship, and the issues a student might face while doing an internship. How to use the internship as an opportunity to understand the research and academic ecosystem in the Indian context were the topics covered in the seminar. He also introduced the line of work he does at NIAS as a scientist having expertise in Animal cognition (fish behavior), science communication & education.
Dr. Binoy enlightened the students that the primary aim of the internship is for the students to find a niche in the society. It will give an understanding of what is happening in the research or clinical environment. Students will be familiar with the way research is generated in the internship. He pointed out the various benefits of internship like the opportunity to learn the process of research & developing tools.
Dr. Binoy who usually takes 7 interns in his lab at NIAS from various prestigious institutions across India shared the process of applying for internship with the students. He reminded the students to always check the website of the institution to see whether the work done at the institution aligns with their area of interest. He suggested the students when writing email to the principal investigators/ faculties of the institution for internship, one should always write the mail stating their interest in working in that particular field to improve their chances of getting selected as an intern. Dr. Binoy also explained the possibilities of how the intern will be guided and monitored in their work at NIAS/ any institution which specializes in research in general. He told the students that the intern would be either directly under the principal investigator and attached to a Ph.D. or post doc. Student. The line of work done by the interns from data collection to placed in a group that works on a project were they can make their contributions to the ongoing project were discussed.
By quoting the phrase “ A known devil is always better than an unknown devil” Dr. Binoy emphasized the importance of getting references from the principal investigator(PI) under whose guidance the intern worked with would broaden their opportunities in the field of academia like getting in a good university to pursue their Ph.D. or getting the opportunity to work in good laboratories across the world.
Dr. Binoy explained the work he does at NIAS, the brain child of JRD Tata. He explained the vision JRD Tata had about the researchers not setting up their own labs at NIAS but instead they should come up with tools and techniques for connecting science with society. Dr. Binoy being a pioneer in the field of fish behavior in animal cognition especially with his work on Mission Mahseer, explained how he is researching on coming up with a life skill training protocol for hatcheries rearing Mahseer as they can’t adapt to live in their natural habitat once released from the hatcheries. His work on Mission Mahseer focuses on finding out the behavioral adaptation, personality traits and how the Mahseer relearn the things once they are out of the natural habitat, i.e., interacting with Carps and Tilapia who are very aggressive to Mahseers.
Dr. Binoy also told the budding Psychologists that in recent times psychological terms are more used in Biology and now Psychologists do have an opportunity in the field of Biology when it comes to understanding the psychological aspects of the behavior of animals.
He also touched up on the project of communicating science in the classroom, which focuses on cognitive aspects of learning science in classroom i.e., visualization. The work focuses on how children develop images in science that don’t have any connection with reality. The aspect of mental models and how children add information to the mental models and development of tools are covered in the area.
He also explained to the students the other lines of work being researched in NIAS like citizen science and Artificial intelligence integrated technologies.
Expert Lecture Series on Mood Disorders
Date: 15 November 2022
Department of Psychology (PG) of Kristu Jayanti College organized an expert lecture on the topic “Mood Disorder” for third semester MSc Psychology, MSc Clinical Psychology & MSc Counselling Psychology students on 15 November 2022 from 1:30 PM to 4: 30 PM at M3 Auditorium.
Dr. Elizabeth Daniel, Consultant, Clinical Psychologist was the resource person. The Interactive session covered the topics of Major depressive disorder, Bipolar I & II, Bipolar related disorders, and cyclothymia.
The casual factors of depression which included the brain areas, genetic factors, and environmental factors were discussed in detail. The vicious cycle of depression containing four different factors which include: Negative stressful events/experiences, negative self-explanatory style, having a depressed mood/ state, and cognitive and behavior changes was discussed by Dr. Daniel in the session.
Dr. Daniel discussed about Bipolar I & Bipolar II disorders and how to differentiate between the two. She shared a case study about a client who is doing well despite her Bipolar I diagnosis. She also stressed the importance of ruling out whether the manic symptoms seen in patients are a result of general medical health conditions and gave a gist about cyclothymia. The resource person also spoke about Premenstrual dysphoric disorder by sharing a case she encountered during her clinical practice and how to differentiate it from PMS. Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder was also discussed in detail.
Dr. Daniel spoke about suicide and stressed the importance of suicide prevention. She divided the students into groups to come across ways to prevent suicide. She also shared anecdotes of losing clients due to suicide and the warning signs that one should always look out for in people who have suicidal ideation. The risk factors of a person being prone to suicide was also discussed in the session which includes whether the person had attempted suicide before, if they are living alone or separated, whether they are retired or unemployed, suffering from chronic illness and so on. The warning signs of suicide which includes talking about death, disappearing, writing letters, saying last good byes, getting rid of personal belonging, emptying bank accounts etc. were discussed.
Dr. Daniel also gave the students a group activity in which they had to come up with suicide prevention strategies.
The treatment options for mood disorders which includes the medications – Anti depressants, mood stabilizers and therapy options like CBT, DBT, Interpersonal therapies and emotion focused therapies, ECT & TMS were discussed. Two case studies were given by Dr. Daniel to the students as a group activity which was to implement CBT on a client who is suffering from depression after a break up. Another task was to come up with strategies to implement CBT on a client who tried to commit suicide after failing in NEET entrance exam. Dr. Elizabeth Daniel addressed the students on how to implement Socratic questioning in CBT. She also explained about the rule of thumb which emphasizes the importance of choosing a solution for the problem which provides maximum benefit to the client and no harm to others.
The resource person also covered seasonal affective disorder by sharing a case she has seen and also the usage of light therapy as a treatment for seasonal affective disorder. The session ended with a question answer session.
Industrial / Field Visit to Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML)
Date: 15 October 2022
Dr. Radhakrishnan Bhatt and Ms.Lajwanti M Jethwani, Faculty, Department of Psychology, Kristu Jayanti College, accompanied the students of MSc Psychology III Semester on an Industrial Visit to Bharat Earth Movers Limited in KGF complex on the 15th of October, 2022. The group left the college campus at 8:20 in the morning and arrived at the destination at 10:40 a.m. They were first guided to the Training Centre where they had tea and biscuits. They then settled into one of the classes for an orientation about BEML and its functions.
The first session was taken by Mr. Giri, a leading member of the technical team. He gave a short introduction to BEML and the role Ministry of Defence played in its creation. Created in 1964, BEML was originally intended to serve as an offshoot of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. However, they soon evolved into an independent body responsible for the creation of not just rail coaches but also the creation of bulldozers, and other mining and defence equipment. He then introduced the three business verticals of BEML namely, Rail and Metro, Mining and Construction (which is specific to BEML KGF) and Defence and Aerospace. His entire introduction centered on the numerous departments and divisions of BEML.
After this introduction, the General Manager of Human Resources, Abenezer Samir Khess addressed the class. His talk was particularly enlightening, as few of the students attended are pursuing a specialization in Industrial/Organizational Psychology, wherein the study of Human Resources is of importance. He commenced by listing the categories of employees and the number of full time employees (5,200) and executives (1,600). After he introduced the framework and structure of the organization, he broke down the various functions and purposes fulfilled by the Human Resources department. This was largely in the context of organization and complex industry and sector (public) BEML falls under.
At the Centre of all functions, he stated, was communication. BEML KGF was established in 1968, and he believed that it was only able to grow as much as it has today with the efficient communication the employees and departments try to maintain. He spoke of the production bodies and labour unions who all ensure regulated functioning and policy-making. He then introduced the range of benefits the employees received. From a Welfare Fund to celebrations of national holidays and a Township with an Officer’s Club, employees received non-monetary benefits. Along with this they were engaged in non-professional and professional activities which they could use to upskill and relax too. Families were given the benefits of education and medical infrastructure as well.
After he concluded, the faculty of Kristu Jayanti College Autonomous expressed their gratitude for this opportunity by presenting them with a memento. Dr. Radhakrishnan Bhatt gave a word of thanks as well.
This was followed by a brief Question and Answer session where the students asked questions regarding the performance appraisal system, grievance redressal and recruitment policies. There was a question regarding mental health services as well. The questions were all answered with details to make it beneficial for the students academically as well. The challenges of ideal interventions and the actual ability to implement them were discussed as well.
The group then proceeded to get lunch before the Plant Visit which was the highlight of the journey for all the students. The students were taken through each unit and given a detailed insight on the purpose of the machinery and activities taking place. While most of the workers had broken for lunch as well, the students were still able to witness the functioning of the factory at some capacity. They saw the hulls and coaches, the machine shop where fabrication takes place and even got to look at heat treatment in the furnace. The guides efficiently explained the classification systems they had in place for the products they manufactured. They got the chance to witness testing of mining excavators and were allowed to look closely at some of the defence repair vehicles.
The trip was wrapped with a short tea break and a round of the entire property. A quick stop at Bharat Gold Mines Limited (BGML) was made as well for a memorable photo following which the group returned to Bangalore by 7 p.m.
There were exclaims of delight throughout as each process was experienced and shown in detail. The heat did not deter the students from actively walking all around the plant to understand all the technical procedures. It was safe to say that the entire journey and experience was an enjoyable and enriching one.
Industrial / Field Visit to All India Institute of Speech and Hearing
Date: 28 September 2022
The PG students of Psychology Department visited the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH), Mysore on 28th September 2022.
The enthusiastic students and the Department faculties gathered together at 6 am and proceeded to travel to Mysore. Jayantians were thrilled and cheerful throughout the journey, cherishing the beauty of Mysore.
The team reached the institution by 11 am, following which sessions were held at the institution. Ms. Vijayalakshmi, the coordinator of Monthly Public Lecture Series at AIISH oriented the Jayantians on various departments and the activities at AIISH. The audiologist, Dr. Aashish and the speech and language pathologist, Dr. Thirumanjiri spoke on Communication Disorders, and Speech and Hearing Problems respectively. Dr. Yashodhara Kumar, the clinical psychologist briefed the Jayantians on the activities and functioning of the Psychology Department at AIISH.
The sessions concluded with the active participation and interaction between the speakers and Jayantians as they addressed their queries and concerns. This was followed by a scrumptious lunch, a visit to the Therapy Park for adults and children, and the visit to Psychology and Special Education Departments. The team set off for Bangalore at 4 pm, cheerful and grateful.
Guest Lecture on Research Technique to Study The Brain and Neuroplasticity
Date: 29 September 2022
The Department of Psychology organized Proprium Series- Guest Lecture by Dr. Yogesh Kanna Sathyamoorthy, Assistant Professor of Neurosciences CHRIST (Deemed to be University) Bangalore on the topic “Research Technique to Study The Brain and Neuroplasticity” on 29th September 2022. We received immense knowledge from Dr. Kanna on different aspects of neuroplasticity and techniques such as Histological, Imaging, Biochemical and Electrophysical being research techniques in neuroplasticity.
His lecture made the concepts taught in the classroom much clearer and finer as they gave apt analogies and examples. One of such examples was understanding synapses. Synapse is the entire area from terminal button, synaptic cleft to the dendrites. He compared this to the classroom setting that shows both the divisions of the classes along with the space in between where we can walk is the synapse.
Strengthening our understanding of the non-invasive diagnostic techniques such as X-ray, CT, MRI, fMRI and PET enhanced our knowledge. We were informed on how CT scan is the combination of multiple slices of X-ray (explaining us with the analogy of bread slices), Magnetic Resonance Imaging being a technique where heavy magnets are being used in order to align the protons in the field and providing a 3-D image whereas functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging being used for identifying the exact brain area responsible for the specific functioning as deoxygenated blood and hemoglobin plays a crucial role in this imaging technique. Positron Emission Tomography uses radioactive drugs to detect the emission of photos hence providing scans of the tissues and the organ.
We also added new information in the bank of our knowledge such as Histology meaning the study of tissues, different navigation techniques being used in few different cultures such as a tribe using Egocentric navigation where they tell the route based on their bodily allocentric position. Microtomy was also explained and the process of hardening the tissue, changing the state from hydrophilic to hydrophobic by adding alcohol and chloroform.
To conclude, it is our immense pleasure to have attended and the lecture and increase our knowledge about the brain and neuroplasticity in the Proprium Series-Guest lecture. We await more guest lectures in the future. We hereby thank Dr. Molly Joy, Head of Department (Psychology), Dr. Vigraanth Bapu, PG Coordinator of Psychology and Dr. Shruthi Shrivastan, UG Coordinator of Psychology and all other staff members for such a wondrous experience.
Documentary Screening on “Monster In The Mind”
Department of Psychology in association with the Psychology Club organized a Documentary screening titled “MONSTER IN THE MIND” on 21st September 2022 at Conference Hall P1 & P2 PG Block First floor from 1:40 pm to 3:30 pm to commemorate World Alzheimer’s Day.
To commemorate World Alzheimer’s Day, the Department of Psychology in Association with Psychology Club organized a documentary screening titled “MONSTER IN THE MIND” on 21st September 2022. The documentary screening was held at PG Block Conference hall P1 and P2 from 1:40 pm to 3:30 pm simultaneously. The screening commenced with a welcome address by Ms. Ngawang Saldon, student coordinator of the Psychology Club from III year JPEng A in P1. Ms. Kritika Gurung from III year JPEng A gave the welcome address in the P2 hall. They highlighted the need for remembering World Alzheimer’s Day and its significance. They also spoke about the documentary titled ‘Monsters in the mind’. All the I year Psychology UG students were in the audience dressed in purple coloured formal attire. Ms. Naw Carolina Ashu, Assistant Prof. Dept. of Psychology and Teacher Co-ordinator of Psychology Club also addressed the gathering.
Dr. Molly Joy, Head, Dept. of Psychology, and Dr. Sruthi Sivaraman, UG Co-ordinator graced the occasion with their presence in conference hall P2. The teachers who were present for the discipline committee included Ms. Sheba Suchitra and Ms. Noor Fathima. The Photography team for the event included Mr. Abhilash Mathews, Ms. Fiona Gloria Vaz, and Ms. Sruthilaz Zehara belonging to III year JPEng A.
The documentary was screened for a duration of 58 minutes, during which the students were asked to take notes to write a brief individual report. The session concluded with a vote of thanks given by both the Master of Ceremony in P1 and P2 respectively. The students were also asked to fill out feedback forms and attach their individual reports on the documentary.
A total number of 199 students were present for the screening. A few of their feedbacks are as follow: “The documentary, on Alzheimer’s disease, was quite enlightening. I got to learn a lot of things that I was unaware of. Sadly, this condition can’t be cured but now we know how to prevent it or treat it if there are chances of getting this disease. Thank you for the session.” “The documentary was very educating and made me see how Alzheimer’s was viewed by the world. The documentary taught me so much about Alzheimer’s and made me see it in a completely new light. It was informative to a very good amount and was very interesting to learn something new. I believe that this event gave me and every other student a big opportunity to learn about something which we have heard about but have never done an in-depth study about.”
Alumni Interaction Series: Expert Lecture
The Department of Psychology organized a Virtual Alumni Interaction on 24 September 2022 from 9:30 am to 10:30 am through Zoom platform. The resource person, Ms. Sandra Santhosh (2015-2017 M.Sc Psychology Batch), Senior Technical Recruiter at Dicetek LLC, Dubai delivered an Expert Lecture on the topic ‘Exploring Opportunities in Industrial Psychology’.
The major points covered by Ms. Sandra were scope of Industrial Psychology in India and the GCC countries today, prominent HR functions (such as recruitment and selection, organizational change and development, performance appraisal, training and development), role of Industrial/Organizational Psychologists in the workplace, job opportunities for Psychology background students specialized in HR, skillset and certification required to succeed in the field, and the expectations and reality of working in the field. She also mentioned that the need and demand for Psychology students in the workplace is as equal as any management student, and that discrimination does not take place based on gender or ethnicity, and that it depends on each individual’s knowledge, skills and attitudes. The talk was followed by Question and Answer session which was very fruitful and insightful for the participants.
400 participants, belonging to 5th Semester BA JPEng, JPCs and PAPEng, and 3rd Semester M.Sc Psychology, Counselling Psychology, and Clinical Psychology attended the event which was informative and assuring to the students specializing in the area. As the session was interactive and the participants could ask their doubts and get it clarified, it was interesting and led to new learning.
Propium Series Workshop on Group Counselling: Process & Skills
The Department of Psychology conducted a Propium Series Workshop on Group Counselling: Process & Skills for III Semester PG Counselling Psychology Students on 10th September 2022 at Auditorium A1, Admin Block from 9 am – 4:30 pm. 49 students were the beneficiaries of the resourceful sessions conducted by Fr. Tomy Joseph, Assistant Professor & Group Therapy Coordinator of Sampuran Montfort College, Bangalore and Dr. Arun S, Assistant Professor & Program Coordinator, Sampuran Montfort College, Bangalore.
The sessions were divided into activity-based learning and discussions pertaining to Group Discussions. After an activity on trust building called "Human Knot," the audience were asked to fill a small questionnaire about groups and were sensitized on theoretical ideas on Group Counselling, the history of Group Counselling, the different types of Groups and stages of Group Counselling.
The afternoon session continued with a short discussion on the various kinds of Groups and various activities for the students that helped them understand the importance of communication among a group. The first activity stressed on the non-verbal communication among people and how a simple finger tapping could communicate innumerable forms of conversation. The next activity required the formation of two circles where each individual shifted places to hold the other person's palm. A short discussion on Group Counselling followed. Another activity was introduced towards building trust which included everyone sitting in a specific position on chairs and falling on one another. Despite initial chaos and reluctance, everyone proceeded with the activity. At the end of that activity, everyone spoke about how they were hesitant but gave way to trusting their partner.
Noticing the bond among the students, the facilitators continued with an activity that built stronger trust among the students. After a very hearty discussion, the workshop ended on a positive note, with the facilitators thanking the audience and providing all with a certificate for the session.
World Suicide Prevention Day - Creating Hope Through Action
The Department of Psychology, Kristu Jayanti College (Autonomous), observed World Suicide Prevention Day on 10th September 2022 with the theme of “Creating Hope through Action”. The event started with vibrant music grabbing the attention of the Jayantians. The audience were welcomed with a reminder of the precious gift of life. The purpose of life is to be grateful and happy, and happiness is not by chance but by choice. They were encouraged to plant seeds of happiness, hope, success and love; and to make and cherish the little moments of life and make the world a better place. The Jayantians were reminded of the importance of holding on together to create hope through action.
This was followed by an enthusiastic thematic dance by the PG students of the Psychology Department. Split into groups, they danced to songs of life and hope. The flash mob concluded with flash cards reading “CREATING HOPE THROUGH ACTION”. Following this, Rev.Fr. Dr Augustine George, Principal Kristu Jayanti College addressed the gathering. He encouraged them to repeat the theme of the day which was “CREATING HOPE THROUGH ACTION”. The event concluded with the crowd applauding and encouraging one another to be the light and hope in the world.
Value Added Course on “PROJECT REPORT WRITING”
The Department of Psychology organized a Value Added Course on “PROJECT REPORT WRITING” for V semester BA JPEng students. It was a half a day program held from 3rd August to 12th August 2022 at Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore. A total of 110 students attended the course. The purpose of the course was to equip the undergraduate JPEng students with a sound foundation on basic research skills and project writing skills as they embark on a scientific pursuit with their minor research project this semester.
The resource persons for the VAC were professors from the Dept. of psychology, Kristu Jayanti College. Considering the students were to apply the learning from the course in carrying out a minor project in their chosen area of study; the syllabus for the VAC was curated by the professors in the department to be simple yet an extensive introduction to research skills.
The main topics covered during the VAC were meaning and objectives of research; Ethics; Types of research; Research approaches; Variables in research; Research problem; Hypotheses; Research Design; Sampling techniques; Data collection techniques; Review of literature; Statistical analysis; Tools for analysis; Report writing; Reference managers and Language and Publication of the report.
The students were required to submit a research proposal on any area of their interest on the last day of the VAC as a part of their assessment. The course concluded with valuable feedback from the beneficiaries. This VAC was indeed a space where a lot of learning occurred in such a short span.
Value-Added Course on “Assertiveness Training”
The Department of Psychology organised a Value-Added Course on “Assertiveness Training” for III semester BA (BA Hons /PYJO/ PYEN) students from 03-08-2022 to 11-08-2022.
The main motto of the course was to enlighten the students about the different styles of assertiveness, different behavioural styles and importance of practicing assertiveness techniques. The resource person for the sessions were the faculty members of the Department of Psychology who created a comfortable ambience for students to carry on the activities like role plays, poster making, group discussions. The sessions were interactive and ended with a video assignment prepared by each student on assertiveness training. About 130 students benefitted from the course and found the course to be extremely beneficial.
Proprium Series - Case History and Diagnosis
The Department of Psychology at Kristu Jayanti College organized a workshop on case history and diagnosis on 16th June 2022. The resource person for the session was Dr. Avinash De Sousa, MD Psych, Med Consultant, Psychiatrist, Slon Hospital, Mumbai.
The resource person began the sessions with the various point to be considered while taking a case history. An emphasis was laid on approaching every case with a dynamic perspective and being more open in terms of exploring the case history.
The resource person emphasized analyzing the causes for the symptoms and then moving on to the treatment.
Various cases were discussed and the students were asked to come up with possible causes and diagnoses.
In the second half of the workshop he talked about various precautions to be taken while interacting with a client while providing therapy, challenges faced while experiencing transference and counter-transference, etc.
he sessions helped the students to understand the need to learn to be more prudent while asking the questions and to formulate the right questions that would help in understanding the client better.
The workshop ended with a question-and-answer session. It was indeed a fruitful and enlightening session for all the participants.
International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2021 observance An Open Forum Discussion on “WorkAble 2021: Psychosocial Disabilities in Workspaces”
The Department of Psychology in Association with SWARI Foundation observed International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2021 by organizing an Open Forum Discussion on “WorkAble 2021: Psychosocial Disabilities in Workspaces”. The programme was organized on 4th December 2021 at 10.00 am in Mini Audi 4. The programme started with a formal inaugural function that began with the welcome address by Ms Sreepriya Menon, Head of HR, SWARI foundation. In his inaugural address, Rev. Dr Augustine George emphasized the need for creating an inclusive environment for all. In her Keynote address Dr Aarti Jagannathan, Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, NIMHANS emphasized the need for a deeper understanding and awareness of psychosocial disabilities in the workplace. Later Mr Ajit Babu, head of partnerships, SWARI Foundation thanked everyone for their contributions and constant support in organizing the open forum discussion.
The open forum discussion began with the session by Capt. Mannivannan IAS, IAS, Secretary, Dept of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Govt of Karnataka in which he discussed the importance of uplifting the lives of people with disabilities. Later in her session, Dr Aarti Jaganathan, Associate professor, Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, NIMHANS, Bangalore highlighted the importance of psychosocial intervention which can help individuals with disabilities. She also discussed various projects that help them to enhance their quality of life. Mr Swakshadip Sarkar, Co-founder and Secretary of Kontho, West Bengal spoke on the activities of their NGO that works for People with Disabilities and oriented the students about how they can contribute to help them. Followed by his session Ms Swathi K.S, Proprietor, Shri Vasavi Condiments, Inclusive Employer, Bangalore, shared her experience as an inclusive employer. Two speakers who joined online Mr Ashwini Survase, Project Manager, Tarasha, Field Action Project, TISS, Mumbai and Mr Asarul-Haque-Jeelani, Research scholar, JNU, Delhi shared their experiences working in the field of rights of people with disabilities.
The sessions ended with the highlights on the activities of the SWARI foundation that provides equal opportunities for people with disabilities by Ms Sreepriya Menon, Head of HR, SWARI Foundation.
Seminar on Orientation Oon IIC and KJIC
The Kristu Jayanti Incubation Center organized an orientation on the IIC and KJIC for the students of 1St Year M.Sc. Psychology, M.Sc.Clinical Psychology and M.Sc. Counselling Psychology on 23rd October 2021 from 9:30 am-11:30 am. A total of 170 students participated in the Programme. The session began with the welcome address by Ms Martina Siby, the Final year PG coordinator followed by the session by Dr A. Muruganantham who gave the orientation for the students about the importance of Kristu Jayanti Incubation Centre and IIC cell and its various activities and programs for the academic year. Later, the session was continued by Dr Kiran Babu N C who motivated the students by showing an innovation video and encouraging them to focus on entrepreneurship and startups for psychology fields. During the session, the students were oriented about how to create an ecosystem for start-ups, and various aspects of entrepreneurship. The students were also provided with information regarding the basic infrastructure necessary to start a business and support system for mentoring, guidance and management training. They were also made aware of small business details by the funding agencies and the wider business environment. The speaker also explained about Four Cell Working under KJIC and Building and Streamlining Innovation and Start-up Ecosystem in Higher Educational Institutions, Network of Institution’s Innovation Council (IIC), IIC Institute Types, and KJIC program Category Details. Finally, the KJC IIC Annual Program Details were shared, Role of IIC council Members, IIC council Student Members Benefits & Rewards, Achievements were also shown. Later, in the question-and-answer forum, the speaker went through the questions of participants and clarified all the doubts effectively by giving more examples and making the session more interesting. It was an extremely beneficial session for the students.
World Mental Health Day 2021
The Department of Psychology celebrated the month of October as Mental Health Month in light of World Mental Health Day observed on October 10th across the globe. Various events were organized to engage the Psychology students, both Undergraduate and Postgraduate, to raise awareness on mental health issues and mobilize efforts in support of better Mental Health. Throughout October 2021, the PG students displayed posters on mental health on the College notice board. A Caption Writing Competition on 23th October 2021 and Poster Making Competition on 25th October 2021 on the theme ‘Mental Health in an Unequal World’, were organized by the Psychology Club for BA Psychology students. The students enthusiastically joined in writing captions on the significance of mental health and displayed the posters on the college campus. A Theatre performance titled-‘When the Cradle Rocks’ directed by Dr Deepthi Vijayan, Faculty, Department of Psychology, was performed on 25th October 2021 at 3 pm in the SKE Auditorium, PG Block, to create awareness about Postpartum Depression. The drama was performed by the III Semester M.Sc. Psychology and M.Sc. Counselling Psychology students. Rev. Dr Augustine George, Principal, Kristu Jayanti College, inaugurated the function and appreciated the students for their contribution and participation in the month-long events organized by the Department. The winners of the competitions were also awarded during the inaugural function by Rev. Dr Augustine George, Principal, Kristu Jayanti College and Rev. Fr. Emmanuel P J, Director, Kristu Jayanti College of Law, and Faculty, Department of Psychology.
Value Added Course on Essence of Humanities
The Value Added Course was conducted for first year BA students to provide insights about an array of subjects in Humanities. The Department of Psychology took sessions on Positive Psychology, where a multitude of positive constructs were introduced to the participants. The topics related to well-being were the centre of the sessions. The Department of English was involved in delivering content related to academic and professional writing skills. Further, the essence of citizenship and gender studies were focused on by the Department of Political Science, History, Sociology, and Media Studies. All the sessions were successfully conducted by the teachers and received positive feedback from the students.
Value Added Course on ‘Self Care in Psychologists’
The Value Added Course (VAC) on ‘Self Care in Psychologists’ was conducted from 24 September 2021 – 1 October 2021. For the students of 1st year M.Sc. Psychology, M.Sc. Counselling Psychology and M.Sc. Clinical Psychology, making a total of 160 students.
The Course aimed at equipping the students to develop the knowledge and skill necessary to manage and care for themselves, as a trainee psychologist and later in professional life. The VAC covered various aspects of Self Awareness, Mindfulness, Building Social Support and Building Positivity. The sessions included lectures, discussions and activities, with a higher emphasis on activities to help the students acquire the skill necessary for self-care. Activity oriented classes helped the students to gain practical insight and hands-on training on different important areas of self-care that are necessary, as one enters a professional career as a Psychologist.
Proprium Series: Workshop on Rorschach Inkblot Test
The Department of Psychology organized a workshop on the Rorschach Inkblot Test on 29 September 2021, Wednesday, at Auditorium II from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm. Dr. Rema M.K, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Kristu Jayanti College (Autonomous) was the resource person for the session. She started the session with an introduction to Rorschach Inkblot Test and explained the administration, scoring, interpretation, and application of the test. A total of 55 students from IIIrd semester M.Sc Counselling Psychology participated in the programme.
Proprium Series: Observing World Alzheimer's Day
The Department of Psychology organized proprium series in the light of observing World Alzheimer's Day on 21 September 2021. The program aimed at raising awareness about the disease, common symptoms, and risk factors. Alzheimer's disease is a degenerative brain disorder that gradually deteriorates the cognitive abilities of individuals. The oddities of the disorder were exhibited on posters by the final year M.Sc. Psychology students. The webinar on "Awareness on Alzheimer's Disease", which was chaired by Dr. Vijaykumar Harbishettar, a Consultant Psychiatrist, Padmashree Diagnostics Vijayanagara, Bengaluru and a Medical Advisor, Health Heal Home Healthcare Services,Vaatsalya Residential Care, Bengaluru. In his session, Dr. Harbishettar provided timely insights and explained the medical perspectives of the disorder. The session witnessed active participation from the final year MSc Psychology, M.Sc. Counselling Psychology, and BA students.
World Suicide Prevention Day is an awareness day observed
World Suicide Prevention Day is an awareness day observed on 10 September every year, to provide worldwide commitment and action to prevent suicides, with various activities around the world. The Department of Psychology observed Suicide Prevention day on 13th September 2021 from 8.20 am to 5.00 pm. As part of the observation, all the PG students wore the badges showing the theme as “life is precious have a positive attitude” and the badges carrying positive message towards life were distributed to all the faculty, administrative staff and students on the campus.
Workshop on Research Proposal Presentation
The department of psychology organized a workshop on Proposal Presentation on 09/09/2021. The students of M.Sc. counselling psychology 3rd Semester were given a template and were required to prepare a research proposal and present it to a panel of teachers. The students of M.Sc. Psychology and M.Sc. Counselling Psychology were divided across five panels. Each presentation was followed by a time of discussion, feedback and input by the teachers and the students. The students were encouraged to ask questions and contribute to various research concepts. The key discussions were on the ways and means to find the research gap and to improvise on the methodology. Insights were also given on the kinds of statistical tools that can be utilized for better and in-depth analysis of results.
A total of 113 students participated in the workshop. The presentations, discussions and inputs given by teachers and students led to a collaborative learning experience and was extremely thought-provoking and insightful.
Workshop on Experimental Psychology
The Department of Psychology organized a Workshop on Experimental Psychology on 1st September 2021 at the Main Auditorium from 9:45 am to 11:45 am. Ninety BA Psychology Vth Semester students attended the workshop.
The session began with a general orientation to the students by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel P J, Director, Kristu Jayanti School of Law and Faculty, Department of Psychology. He reminded the students about the etiquette to be followed when in the lab and the classroom to ensure adherence to the safety guidelines for COVID 19 Pandemic and welcomed the students to the first offline session of the academic year.
In her session Dr Molly Joy, Professor and Head, Department of Psychology, provided an insight into the discipline of Experimental Psychology and briefed them about the history, the ethical guidelines to be followed and introduced them to different variables.
Later, Ms Vimala M, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, oriented the students about Psychology practical’s and the expectations and the code of conduct to be followed inside the lab. The expectations and points to be kept in mind were clearly stated for the students. The participants found the sessions to be informative, well organized and relevant for their course.
Value Added Course on Employability Skills for Psychologists
The New Education Policy has brought out the right emphasis on the need for developing employability skills among students and to prepare them with apt resources and skills. A 30 hours value-added course on ‘Employability skills for psychologists’ was conducted for the students of III Semester M.Sc. Psychology and M.Sc. Counselling Psychology from 9th August 2021 – 19th August 2021. The sessions emphasized various aspects like effective communication at the workplace, the practice of virtues, having a good self-awareness of one’s strengths and weaknesses and ways to efficiently utilize the available resources and opportunities. The students were also trained in necessary skills that will be useful in building an impressive profile and attending job interviews. The course ended with a mock interview session and the students were evaluated based on their performance during the interview session. Overall the sessions were extremely beneficial for the students as they learnt various skills and ways to apply them in the workplace. The final exam (Mock interview) gave them exposure to various questions and aspects that they need to consider in a job interview. The feedback received from teachers was also extremely beneficial for the students.
Value Added Course on Skills in Research Reporting
Assimilating the fundamentals of research writing is a necessary skill considering the present scenario. The value-added course on “Skills in Research Reporting”, aimed at inculcating the research habits in Undergraduate students. The course started with a vision of scaffolding the minor project and thereby maintaining the quality of output. More than 160 students benefitted from the course and enjoyed the nuances of research writing. The teachers took tremendous effort in maintaining the “practical” nature of the course. The hands-on experience was delivered in building the research problem, reviewing the literature and data analysis. The assignments initiated critical thinking rather than emphasizing rote memory. The course ended with an open book exam, where the students were asked to come up with a research proposal from the existing sources. To conclude, amidst the regular courses, the students were taken through the rigours of research which turned out to be a fruitful and meaningful experience.
Once upon a time.. “Friction reveals truths that reality obscures.’
In a society where people associate stigma around mental health, frictional stories can bring is awareness and understanding of mental health to larger audience. 17th to 19th of August, 2021, Psychology Club along with Department of Psychology had a book review series, ‘Once upon a time’.
Undergraduate students of IIIrd and Vth Semester volunteered to be part of the series. The three books which were discussed were Em and the Big Hoom by Jerry Pinto, Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom and Life is What You Make it by Preeti Shenoy. The resource persons for the book review were Prof. Sharmili Chatterjee, Prof. Anitha Mary Mathew, and Dr. Sruthi Sivaraman, from the Department of Psychology.
These books were carefully chosen, as these books reflected the world from the eyes of mental health and mental health care. Students interacted and shared personal observations and reflections during the discussion. Students further highlighted that while addressing mental health concerns, writers can be more informative as well as sensitive. Good writers often equip themselves with the right amount of information, which is often reflected in the stories they bring to the world.
International Adolescent Health Week Adolescent Resilience during the Pandemic
The International Adolescent Health Week global event with the theme ‘Adolescent Resilience during Pandemic’ was conducted by the Department of Psychology, Kristu Jayanti College autonomous Bengaluru on the 24th of March 2021.
The event began with the inaugural session at 9:30 am. The chief guest for the event was Dr. Nityananda S Kuntasetty , Chairperson BAHA(Bangalore Adolescent Health Association) and Senior Consultant at ESI Hospital Bangalore.
In his Inaugural address, Dr. Nityananda introduced to the realities of paediatrics, adolescent health care in India and the intricacies in handling or caring for an adolescent. In his presidential address Rev. Dr. Augustine George, Principal-Kristu Jayanti College emphasised the need to help adolescents to have holistic growth by taking efforts to improve on the emotional, psychosocial and spiritual wellbeing and the need to practice yoga and different forms of meditation. Further during the session Rev. Dr. Augustine George felicitated Mr. Alen Saji for receiving the title of Grand Master from the Asia Book of World Records and India Book of Records.
Ms. Tanvi Nair 1st Year M.Sc. Psychology student was felicitated by Dr. Molly Joy for being selected as the student ambassador for IAHW.
The event consisted of four keynote sessions. The first keynote session was given by Dr. Laura A.Offutt.MD, FACP Internal Medicine Physician Founder of IAHW addressed the audience through a recorded session where she shared the birth and growth of IAHW since its inception in 2016.
The second keynote session was taken by Dr. Dzung Vo. MD, FAAP, Pediatrician, Adolescent Medicine, British Columbia Children’s Hospital spoke about mindfulness and its significance in maintaining mental well-being of adolescents through a recorded video.
The third session was taken by Dr. Preethi M Galagali, MD, PGDAP, FIAP Consultant Adolescent Health Specialist and Pediatrician addressed the students on the mental well-being of adolescents through a zoom call Dr. Nityananda in the fourth keynote session spoke about life skills, adolescent health and issues, parenting. He addressed many questions about divorce and parenting styles as well.
After the keynote sessions, three competitions were held simultaneously which included Photography(Freeze the Moment) , Poster making (Creare) and JAM (Just-a-minute). The students took part in the events with great enthusiasm. Shabnum Hemayun of 1st year Msc Psychology obtained first place in Poster Making Competition.
Aishwarya of 1st year B.A. of Performing Arts won first place in JAM Speech Competition.
Hevin of 1st year MSc Counselling Psychology obtained first place in Poster Making Competition. After the competitions, the PG students of the department of psychology performed a skit that depicted the lives of four adolescent friends during the lockdown period and how they overcame their problems through resilience. The event ended with the valedictory session and the prize distribution. It was indeed a fruitful and enriching experience for all the participants.
Two Day Workshop on Individual and Group Counselling Skills
The Department of Psychology organized a two-day workshop on individual and group counselling skills on the 17th and 18th of March 2021 from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. The resource person for the session was Dr Romate John, Head of Department of Psychology; Dean of School of Social and Behavioural Sciences; Director of IQAC; Director of International Affairs; Director-in-charge of the Regional Centre of the Central University of Karnataka.
Dr Romate John started the workshop with some energizers. He then asked questions to understand how much the students knew about the meaning of counselling, the difference between counselling; psychotherapy; and guidance and were exposed to the skills; approaches; and models of counselling. On the first day, he explained the Egan model of Counselling elaborately with the help of short demonstrations and role-plays, along with a lot of insights, personal experiences and tips about various nuances that psychological counselling comes with. He also kept conducting energizers, games and short competitions related to the model being taught to keep the session lively. He emphasised the difference between a demand and a request as a counsellor and how a counsellor should always give importance to the client’s right to choose. On the second day, he conducted an elaborate role-play session during the first half of the session, demonstrating all stages and steps in the model taught on the previous day. Other models like the Carkhuff; Ivey and Ivey models and all required micro and macro skills were explained. In the second half, he conducted role plays and demonstrations to explain important skills and the major stages in group counselling. The resource person-outlined about eleven generic stages, right from notification to termination of the group. Overall, the two-day workshop was very informative and insightful for the trainee counsellors.
Orientation on Psychoeducation and Field Work
An orientation session was conducted by Ms Soumya Simon, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Kristu Jayanti College from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm on 15th March 2021.
The session started with a discussion on the various fieldwork setting and their working style. An emphasis was laid on having a deeper understanding of the fieldwork setting and the need and requirements of the clients and the institution. Orientation was given on the process of systematically and structurally informing people about the illness, symptom and treatment and integrating emotional aspects to enable patients to cope with this. To explore the aetiology, the precipitating, predisposing and perpetuating factors. She also explained the various types of models: Information Model, Skill Training Model, Supportive Model, Comprehensive Model.
Ms Soumya Simon also encouraged participants to prepare well for each session and to work towards dispelling stigma, prejudice and misconception with the help of both passive (flyers, posters, and pamphlets) and active psychoeducation (Counselling sessions). The session ended with an explanation of fieldwork report writing.
The participants gained insights on how to prepare for sessions and other work in their fieldwork, how to gain insight, and the skill of report writing.
Workshop on ‘Research Process for Minor project’
The Department of psychology organized a webinar on 9/12/20 on ‘Research Process for Minor project’ for 57 students of M.Sc. Psychology. The resource person for the session was Dr. Molly Joy, Head, Department of Psychology, Kristu Jayanti College. The main focus of the session was on defining a research problem, identifying the sample for the study, selecting the sample, formulating the objectives and research questions, formulating hypothesis, statistical test to measure variable and hypothesis, and also how to interpret the results and write discussion of a project. The students were also given an orientation to report and publication writing.
The students had an enlightening experience and gained insights on various aspects of research writing and publication.
Proprium Series Documentary Screening
Department of Psychology, Kristu Jayanti College organised Proprium Series Documentary Screening on 17th October 2020 in the Zoom Platform from 10.00 am to 12.00 Noon. The documentary screened was “Life before birth – in the womb”
Life before Birth is an award-winning documentary that carefully dissects every milestone in the nine-month gestation of the human foetus. It was premiered in 2005, on the National Geographic Channel. The documentary featured the development of the embryo in the uterus. The film used the most recent technology to provide an intricate glimpse into the prenatal world. The technologies used, which include advanced photography, computer graphics, and a 4-D ultrasound imaging, helped to realistically illustrate the process of the development.
From the formation of the brain’s completely exposed nerve endings after fifteen days in the womb during a phase of development in which the foetus has yet to take any discernibly human form to the manifestation of eyes and limbs at 30 days and the process of labour was visualised in the film.
159 students witnessed the documentary and found it to be informative and relevant for the academics.
Fit India Movement Celebration
Honorable Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi had launched the Fit India Movement on the National Sports Day, 29th August 2019, to encourage physical fitness and well-being among all citizens. On this occasion, students and teachers of the Department of Psychology of Kristu Jayanti College took an initiative to spread awareness about fitness and health through a virtual gathering on 29th August 2020.
The enthusiastic students and faculty members had put hands together to mark the occasion by participating in various activities like a fitness challenge, slogan writing competition, and individual fitness resolutions. These activities were pre-recorded and presented virtually in the Zoom platform. The main highlight was the interaction of three of the alumni members, who excel in the field of sports and fitness, with the students, encouraging and inspiring them to take up everyday fitness goals. Master Lee Jae Ku, taekwondo master and Former Indian National Coach & World Breaking Champion from South Korea, demonstrated simple exercises and movements to restore strength and agility in the body.
Mr. Britto Costa, University champion for taekwondo, black belt Dan 1 champion from Goa with several accolades at National level Taekwondo competitions in Goa and Bangalore. Currently working as the Taekwondo national referee for junior and senior-level, spoke about the importance of exercise, the different stages of exercise, and its importance in one’s wellbeing.
Ms. Linta Tom who has participated in over 10 National competitions in Judo and winner of 2nd and 3rd prize at the National level explained how her sports journey helped her gain strength, confidence, and self-esteem and also improved her communication skills with others. This gave a different perspective on the benefits of sports and fitness in one’s life.
The videos emphasized the importance of a healthy diet and eating habits, sports and physical exercises, yoga and meditation, healthy lifestyle, laughter therapy, and sleep hygiene on one’s fitness and health. The topics were explained by the faculty members of the department. A ‘Best Fit Slogan’ award was also given to a student who wrote the most original and inspiring slogan for fitness. This was announced and appreciated by Dr. Molly Joy, Head, Department of Psychology.
The programme inspired the students to take up fitness resolutions and challenge themselves to inculcate exercises and healthy living habits for their overall physical and mental wellbeing.
International Guest Lecture
The Department of Psychology at Kristu Jayanti College had organized a highly educative International Guest Lecture on 15th February 2020. The session was led by Dr. Philip Laird from Trinity Western University, Canada who is specialized in Jury analysis, Juror decision making, Psychology and law, Psychology and theology, Self-deception (lying), Technology and education, Emotional intelligence, and Moral reasoning.
The session commenced at 10:00 am in Mini Auditorium II and was attended by both the 1st and 2nd-year postgraduate students of psychology. Dr. Laird, during his talk, focused on criminal and legal psychology by introducing the students to several key terminologies and their implications seen from both the perspective of psychology and law. He began his lecture by describing three prominent criminal cases in Canada, during which the defendants had claimed they suffered from a mental disorder. He then went on to explain a few legal terminologies like ‘Actus reus’, ‘Mens rea’, ‘Fitness to stand trial’ and a few others while highlighting the arguments in place like, ‘Not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder’ (NCRMD) and Automatism that come into play with regard to such cases, further elaborating on the topic of Automatism with the fourth and final case of Kenneth Parks. Although in his talk, he primarily focused on Canadian law, the concepts were in one way or another applicable in the context of the Indian legal system as well.
Dr. Laird summed up this highly riveting and informative session by asking the audience’s verdict for each of the cases mentioned in light of both the psychological as well as legal notions that had been explained. The session concluded at 11:00 am and received glowing feedback from the students who gained new insights into the field of legal and criminal psychology which was backed up by fascinating case studies that will definitely prompt them to further explore and dive deeper into this arena.
Department of Psychology - Psychology Exhibition and Career Fair “Manodharshan
Taking strides in Psychology along with Manodarshan 2020
Manodarshan, the much-awaited exhibition of Psychology department was held on 24 January 24, 2020 at main auditorium 1. The exhibition which was a joint venture of UG and PG department of Psychology. It was inaugurated by Rev.Fr. Dr. Augustine George, vice principal Kristu Jayanti College.
Manodarshan which aims at spreading awareness about psychology, in the minds of people through various Psychological assessments, vivid explanation of Psychological theories and concepts through working models and posters received critical acclamation from students and faculty members of various departments as the auditorium was flooded with curious viewers. The prominent factor that distinguished the entire exhibition was the Psychometric assessment Centre headed by the PG students of the department. The assessment Centre hosted a plethora of assessments in the areas of personality, intelligence and emotional balance. The paper pencil tests as well as the tests administered on the computers like the’ life satisfaction scale’, Emotional Stroop effect etc. helped the visitors of the exhibition to have an insight about their personality and emotional stability.
The center of attraction of the exhibition was Thanos, a 3 month old dwarf hamster which was used in giving the visitors a live example of the theory “Classical conditioning”. The experiment which received critical acclamation went on to win a special prize too at the exhibition. Thanos had conquered the minds of people by stimulating the interest in Psychology among the audience
There was a tough competition among the contestants of the working models in the exhibition; as 24 teams competed for the 1st three prizes of the exhibition. The UG students had effectively incorporated the essence of the various Psychological theories they have studied in their exhibits. The working models included in the exhibition to name a few are concept formation in which blocks of various shapes and heights are used to form a specific concept in the mind of a person whom the test is administered to , the amusing memory game which gives tips to memorize various information by connecting it to our daily life, Depth perception apparatus to test our perception and the list goes on…..
The poster competition was very vivid with its topics like stages in prenatal development, depression, various Psychological theories like Maslow’s theory of hierarchy, Mnemonic strategies etc.
The fest marked its end by the valedictory ceremony in which Fr. Emmanuel PJ, faculty department of Psychology presided the meeting along with Dr. Molly Joy, HOD, department of Psychology. The winners of both Working model and poster competition were felicitated.
National Girl child Day- Empowering Girls for a Bigger Tomorrow
When girls are educated, their countries become stronger and more prosperous.” -Michelle Obama
“The world needs strong women. Women who will lift and build others, who will love and be loved. Women who live bravely, both tender and fierce. Women of indomitable will.” -Amy Tenny
National Girl Child Day in India is celebrated on 24 January to raise awareness about the rights of girls and to highlight the inequalities that they face in their lives.
The department of Psychology in association with the Women Empowerment Cell of Kristu Jayanti College Celebrated ‘National Girl child Day’ with the theme Empowering Girls for a Bigger Tomorrow;
The awareness programme focused on the challenges that girls face, it was an attempt to spread awareness among students about the lack of equality, which a girl faces in all spheres. The awareness program was dedicated to every girl who suffered from the challenges of life. At Kristu Jayanti College, Learning is not limited to just classroom, but our college believes in making every student of Kristu Jayanti to become socially responsible, sensitive towards societal needs and overall, becoming a responsible individual.
The program aimed at changing the mindset of people and increasing awareness about the importance and role of the girl in the society. A girl deserves equality among people in the society. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution of India has said, “I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved.” A country that empowers women empowers every individual! We have to start with protecting the girl child”
And this message was rightly conveyed by our students.
By empowering our daughters we empower their communities which mean empowering the nation! Spread awareness and change mindsets to ensure that communities and families welcome and celebrate daughters.
Student-Scientist Interaction at National Institute of Advanced Studies
On the 14th of January 2020, the students of 1st year M.Sc. Psychology and M.Sc. Counselling Psychology reported to the National Institute of Advanced Studies at 9:00am. The inaugural session began at 9:20 am, after the registration. The first session began at 9:30am in which Prof. Shailesh Nayak spoke about sustainability and climate change. It was enlightening to know about the Earth and that it is an interactive system which involves both the social and human system. He finished his session after which there was an interactive question and answer session. The second session was taken by Dr. V.S. Ramamurthy at 10:20am, he began his session on the topic Science and society by talking about how the 20th century has been the turning point in the history of technology. It was intriguing and a new perspective to the world in general, after which there was a question and answer session which was very informative. The third session began at 11:35am by Dr. Deepthi Navaratna, who spoke about music and cognition. The session was interactive, meaningful and thought-provoking. Some questions like “how do people memorise music?” “how does musical memory work?” helped in having a better understanding of the concept. The next session was addressed by Prof. Sindhu Radhakrishna, who talked about animal psychology and conservation. She began by talking about human and animal behavior by giving the case study example of monkeys. She also showed a video about an experiment conducted on capuchin monkeys. The next session was conducted by Prof. Nithin Nagaraj on the topic consciousness, causality and artificial intelligence. There were a lot of discussions on Neurochaos and artificial intelligence. Later, Dr. Vishwanath Varma in his session on Agent-Based Modelling of social cognition spoke about the various theories and about his current studies in the Lab. It was enlightening as there was a lot of information about behavior of fishes. The final session conducted by Dr. Binoy was about psychology, cognition and science communication. He spoke about how information is stored and also about how science has brought new knowledge to the society. It was indeed a pleasant experience to be in the midst of such great minds. The session was concluded with the question and answer session which was very interactive and there were numerous questions raised and each question was answered well by the speaker. It was indeed a fruitful experience for the students of Kristu Jayanti College.
Workshop on Play Therapy
Department of psychology has organized a workshop on Play therapy on 19th December 2019 in Main Auditorium, the main block from 09:00 am – 04:30 pm. The resource person Dr. Sherin Anthony, Acharaya college, gave a general overview of what is play therapy, play, game, the importance of choosing the toys. The goal is to help children and adults learn to express themselves in healthier ways, become more respectful and empathetic, and discover new and more positive ways to solve problems. This is done by providing the children with a comfortable environment where they can express themselves freely. The various decisions made by the children, their behavior and expression a carefully observed by the therapist.
The workshop helped the students to have first-hand experience of the various process involved in play therapy. It was indeed an enlightening experience.
Workshop on Qualitative Methods And Analysis
The workshop on ‘Qualitative methods and analysis’ was held for 168 postgraduate students of the psychology department on 10th December 2019. The workshop was divided into two sessions where the morning session was addressed by Dr. Sivanna, a professor from ISEC, Bangalore who enlightened the students by sharing his knowledge based on his previous works and experience which inspired the gathering. His talk mainly revolved around the theme of “Introduction to Social Science Research with a focus on different methods.”
He took examples from faculties about their past research works and gave a comparative analysis of the possible incorporation of qualitative methodology.
The afternoon session was addressed by Dr. K R Santhosh, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology, Christ (Deemed) to be University, Bangalore. Dr. Santhosh focused his speech on various methods and analysis techniques in qualitative research such as Thematic Analysis, Content Analysis, Grounded Theory, Narrative Analysis, Phenomenological Studies, etc. The techniques were explained with appropriate examples which helped the students to have an in-depth understanding of the various ways in which the techniques could be applied in research.
It was indeed an enlightening and enriching experience for the students as they got to know the need, relevance, and techniques to apply qualitative methods in research.
2 day Workshop on Cognitive behaviour Therapy
Day 1:
CBT, short for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is one of the most advance therapies, used to treat a wide range of Mental Illnesses, CBT is a therapeutic approach that revolves around emotional and behavioural disturbances in an individual by working with their Physical-Sensory, Cognitive and Behavioural responses to both internal and external events.
The Cognitive Behaviour Therapy workshop conducted by the Department of Psychology was held on the 26th of July, 2019. The enriching workshop was headed by resource person Dr. M. Manjula, Professor and Mrs. Sayma Jameel, PhD Research scholar, NIMHANS. Bangalore.
This workshop on CBT, was an enlightening one where it helped the students to widen their spectrum of knowledge about Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. Sixty eight final year Post Graduate students from the Department of Psychology had the opportunity to be a part of this delightful workshop. Dr. M. Manjula, a cheerful resource person, led the students from the basic theoretical concepts of CBT through the different models used for the formulation of a case.
Day 2
The second day of the workshop the students were divided into 3 batches, Clinical , Industrial and Counselling. The focus and aim of the sessions were to throw more light on the practical structure of CBT through various activities and case studies. The Sessions were facilitated in different venues by Dr. Rema M.K., Mr. Vigranth Bapu and Ms. Soumya Simon for clinical, industrial and counselling students respectively.
The sessions began with a short recap of the previous day, after which the students were given an exercise where they had to appropriately identify and classify thoughts, feelings and physical sensations.
Three case studies were given to each group and they were asked to find the precipitating factors, predisposing factors and protective factors from the given case study. After that the flow chart for CBT structure was followed to find the core beliefs, assumptions, triggering situation, problems which included thoughts, emotions, behaviours and physical sensations. Each group was given time to discuss among themselves. After that the facilitator provided a platform for every group to share their views on the case studies.
“Second day gave us much learning and it was joyful to do the activities. Practical knowledge gave the students much deeper understanding on how we build core beliefs and how it effects our assumptions that are activated by triggering situations. I take this opportunity to thank the facilitators for all the support and the department for conducting the workshop which gave us more insight on the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.”-Lydia John, 2nd year M.Sc. Psychological Counselling.
Industrial Visit to BEL Academy for Excellence
The batch of MSc. Psychology (HRDM) students (18) and Professor Dr.Krishnan Bhatt visited the BEL Academy for Excellence at. This is a globally competitive company in defence electronics and in other chosen areas of professional electronics.
Mr. Sushant, Manager HR, addressed the students and gave them a brief about their sprawling complex spread over six acres. The academy of Excellence is envisaged to address the training needs of people. The training programmes have been structured around three core areas: Quality, Technology, and Leadership. After the presentation we then stood in attention while the BEL Anthem was played.
Later Mr.Anand , Head of Leadership addressed the students and gave an insight to several topics and introduced us to various aspects in the HR field right from how the hierarchy works to how collaboratively they work as a team to facilitate continuous learning and developmental orientation. He mentioned that in an organization we may find people with various attitudes while coming to work such as: Prisoners, some on vacation, Interrogative and the real learners but the strength and knowledge lies in how collaboratively they work to bring out the best in all for them individually and as a whole for their organization.
Mr.Anand listed several psychometric tests which will be useful for the students in their future endeavors. Some of the notable tests were MBTI, PAPI, Hogan Development, PPA. He then asked them to constantly read books and increase their knowledge in the chosen field of interest which will take them a long way. Some of the books he referred were Michelle Armstrong’s Human Resources and Labor Laws and Stephen Robin’s Organizational Behavior.
He listed the three main aspects the HR focuses on developing – The Cognitive aspect, the Behavioral aspect and the Expertise we have in our chosen Domain. He introduced the students to various Adult Learning Theories, David Kolb to name one and explained in brief the process of Recruitment.
During the session, students interacted with the Head of Leadership effectively. Particularly about the core values essential for an individual to excel in their respective filed.
The students then proceeded to have a sumptuous lunch and were later taken on a campus tour showcasing their infrastructural excellence. The visit was highly insightful for the students in terms of practical exposure and knowledge in the field of Human Resources.
Industrial Visit to Alimco
Department of Psychology, Kristu Jayanti College organized an industrial visit to the Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India ALIMCO, Bangalore, on Tuesday 2nd July 2019, 18 students from Industrial Psychology 3rd semester were accompanied by the faculty member Dr. Krishnan Bhatt. The objective of the field visit was to observe and learn how ALIMCO functions and to study the structure of the organization.
Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO) is a Schedule ‘C’ Miniratna Category II Central Public Sector Enterprises, registered under Section 8 (Not for Profit motive) of the Companies Act 2013, (corresponding to Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956) is functioning under the Administrative Control of Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. It is 100% owned by Govt. of India Central Public Sector Enterprises with an objective of benefiting the persons with disability to the maximum extent possible by manufacturing Rehabilitation Aids for persons with disabilities and by promoting, encouraging and developing the availability, use, supply and distribution of Artificial Limbs and other Rehabilitation Aids to the disabled persons of the country. Profitability is not the motive of the operations of the Corporation and its main thrust is in providing better quality of Aids & Appliances to larger number of disabled persons at reasonable price.
The Corporation started manufacturing artificial aids in 1976. It has four Auxiliary Production Centres (AAPCs) situated at Bhubaneswar (Orissa), Jabalpur (M.P.), Bengaluru (Karnataka), Chanalon (Punjab) and Ujjain. The Corporation has four Marketing Centres at New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, & Hyderabad and one Outreach Centre at Guwahati. The Corporation is the only manufacturing company producing various types of assistive devices under one roof to serve all types of disabilities across the country.
For the first session Mr. A. Siva Kumar Senior Manager Marketing briefed the students about the products manufactured in the unit namely The Mobility Aids including Wheel Chair folding standard model (TD 2C 51), Detachable Tricycle, Joystick Operated Wheelchair and Motorized Tricycle.
Students were also shown the working model of Walking stick, Smart Cane, Braille Cane Folding (Deluxe), Clutch elbow adjustable TD 1N 37, Smart phone, Tablet, Multi-Sensory Inclusive Educational Kit, Digital hearing aid.
After the briefing session the students were given a complete tour of the manufacturing factory by Mr. Abhay Pratap Singh, General Manager Production. During the tour the students were exposed to different types of machinery namely Horizontal Drilling Machine, Boring Machine, Powder coating machine, Lather scrapping machine etc. used for the manufacturing of the wheelchair used by specially abled people.
Mrs. Jagruti Gamit (employee) explained the students the diagnosis of various disabilities and the functioning of the Camps held by ALIMCO.
The session ended with the interaction with an interaction with Mr. Anupam Prakash, Unit Head In charge where he spoke about the vision and mission of the organization along with the short term and long term goals. The students were further advised to spread awareness about the cause.
Intra-college psychology exhibition and assessment fair
Department of Psychology had organized an intra-collegiate psychology exhibition and assessment fair “Psychofair 2k19” on 21st of February 2019 at Main Auditorium from 10 am to 4.30 pm. The exhibition was inaugurated by Rev. Fr. Josekutty PD, Principal, Kristu Jayanti College. Rev. Fr. Principle, who visited each and every stall of the exhibition gave a feedback at the end where he said that he was very happy with the way students had thought about the concepts and the clarity in their explanation.
The exhibition was divided into three sections; the first section was the display of the working models by students pursuing UG in different areas of general Psychology such as Learning, Memory, Perception, etc., they also had stalls where they got their hand writing analysis, test their hand eye coordination and to check the level of impulsivity. The second section comprised of display of equipment used in the psychology experiments such as Minnesota Rate of Manipulation Test (MRMT), Depth Perception box, Mulley Lyer Illusion, Tachistoscope, Bilateral Transfer of Learning and Weber’s law. The third section of Psychofair was the Assessment Centre where teachers and Students had an opportunity to get their various cognitive abilities, personality and aptitude checked. The assessment centre had various paper-pencil assessments, performance tasks and also computer based cognitive assessments. The reports of all the assessments were prepared and mailed on the same day.
National Level Faculty Development Programme on “Dealing with Transition: Childhood to Adolescence”
Department Of Psychology had organized a national level Faculty Development Programme (FDP) on the topic of Dealing with Transition – Childhood to Adolescence” for higher secondary school teachers, student counsellors from various schools, and school counsellor trainees from varied institution on 14th December, 2018 at Mini Audi 2 from 9.00 am onwards. The faculty development programme started with the inaugural address by Fr. Emmanuel, P.J. who spoke about the growth of the college and the department. He ann
Dr. Roopesh B N, Additional Professor from NIMHANS, Bengaluru conducted the morning session of the FDP on the topics of Transitions during adolescence and various counselling skills and techniques required to handle adolescent children. He started talking about the varied domains of changes that are set to happen during adolescence and what is its impact on the behaviour was covered. Post the tea break he started off with an activity where he divided the participants into various group and asked them to come up with some children who have been very difficult to handle during this transition phase. As the participants started to share their case, the resource person added on to his valuable suggestion on how to handle such children and also shared some of his own examples from his vast clinical experience.
The second half of the FDP was handled by Dr. Molly Joy, Dr. Alka Ranjan, Dr. Rema, M.K. and Mr. Vigraanth Bapu, K.G. The Session started with the method of case history collection where the required step for understanding the child’s problem was explained in detail. Following which there was a discussion on the need and necessity for having an assessment being done for further clarification in the symptomatology. The last session was an activity session where participants were divided into five groups and all were given one detailed case study. The participants read the case study, presented it to the other groups who later came up with the required assessment and management for the case.
Participants who attended the event felt that it was productive and were commenting on the practical approach followed throughout the sessions. They were suggesting having a more for elaborate session on the management strategies in specific.
Worshop on Solution Focused Brief Therapy
Date: 22/9/2018
Department Of Psychology had organized a workshop on Solution Focused Breif Therapy on 22nd of September, 2018 at Mini Audi 1 from 9.00 am onwards. Mr. Maxim Pereira, Assistant Professor & Counsellor, Montfort College, Bengaluru conducted the workshop with the objective of introducing students to the therapeutic & counselling process and to introduce knowledge and skills of SFBT. The session traced the development of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy which is a post-modern approach. The reasons and the phenomenon of development was outlined. Being a post-modern approach, it was explained that how the focus is on solutions rather on problem solution. It was also demonstrated that how it is a brief therapy. Skills used in SFBT were also demonstrated. Examples from counselling sessions were given to explain the concepts.
34 students from M.Sc. Psychological Counselling and M.Sc. Psychology (Counselling Specialization) attended the event and most of the students felt that it was productive though suggesting for more experiential learning.
Two Days Workshop On Advanced Counsellor Training
The two days’ workshop on Advanced Skills Training in Counseling was held on 11th and 12th September 2018 in the Department of Psychology, Kristu jayanti College. Dr. Romate John, Head of the Department of Psychology, Central University of Karnataka Gulbarga was the resource person. The workshop was started with an inaugural function in which the welcome address was done by Professor Rajalakshmi, Department of Psychology. The participants of the workshop were the students of I. M.Sc. Psychological Counseling and II. M.Sc. Psychology.
DAY 1:
On 11th September, the topics of Observation and Judgment were taught, an activity was conducted in which each students were asked to list out and then classify the feelings which they know into two categories namely Satisfied and Unsatisfied and then the needs of the client were taught to be classified under various categories. Whenever a client is being helped out in his/ her problem, the counselor should always ask questions which should be as a request and not as demands that ultimately leads to a very good relationship between a client and a counselor. A role play has been demonstrated in which how to allow the client to get involved in story telling was taught. A new concept of Blind spotting was taught to make the doubts of the counselor to be clarified after the story telling part of the client. Many refreshing activities were done to make the students involved in the session. The process of counseling has been presented with the help of the power point. Feedbacks after each session were taken in order to refine the session much better according to the expectations of the students participating in the workshop. Time for questions were also given to help students to clarify their doubts here and then.
DAY 2:
On 12th September, the session started with an action song demonstrated by few volunteers from the students attending workshop. Then the models of counseling were started. Three models of counseling namely Ivey’s Intentional Interviewing Counseling Model, Egan’s Skilled Helper Model of Counseling and Cormier’s Professional Counseling Models were taught. The skills in counseling a client were rated as low, medium and high based on the influence of those skills on the client. In addition to the above three models listed, Carkhuff Counseling Model was also taught in which the counselor and client terms were replaced by Helper and Helpee terms respectively. Egan’s model was very much concentrated in terms of three stages which contained nine steps totally. In the afternoon session, the Egan’s Model was completely demonstrated in a role play and then each and every step in the counseling process was clarified and made the students understand much better by giving a very good presentation of the problems faced by the counselor and at the same time the feeling of the client was also been brought into consideration. Then the two day workshop was ended with a feedback session by the learning experience of the students who volunteered themselves. The vote of thanks was given by Professor Rajalakshmi and Professor Naavya Patel and finally a small memento was presented to the chief guest by Dr. Molly Joy, Head of the Department of Psychology. The two days workshop was ended with a rich learning experience and was extremely beneficial to all the students participated.
Department Of Psychology Workshop On Indian Psychology
On September 11th, 2018, Department of Psychology conducted a 1-day workshop on Indian Psychology. Ret.Prof. Mukunda Rao, Head of Department of English, Bangalore University was the resource person on the topic “Self Realization – Indian Perspective”.
He spoke on varied topic such as Consciousness, Self, Ideal Self, Spirituality, Religion and interacted with all the students on the same. He also gave us an impactful insight on Buddha and his teachings. Where he spoke about living a skilful life as one of Buddha’s main agendas. He further spoke about meditation and different aspects of meditation that help us through life. He mentioned that meditation is not only through certain postures but can be done at any time of the day, anywhere as long as your mind is at peace.
The class was then divided into 5 groups, given a topic each and asked to present their topics and what their learning experience was. Students acquired a lot of information from Prof. Rao the most important learning was that spirituality is a very personal attainment. He thoughts the students that they see various aspects of life everyday and spirituality is there in every aspect knowingly or unknowingly. Students also understood how to live everyday more peacefully and channelize our energy in a healthy manner. On the whole, the workshop was very fruitful and it helped us learn a lot.
2 Day Outbound Training Workshop On “Mental Health Volunteering” At Nimhans: Centre For Well-Being
Department of Psychology had sent the final year M.Sc. Psychology students (Counselling and Industrial Specialization) for a two day outbound training workshop on “Youth Volunteering for Mental Health” organized by National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience (NIMHANS), Bengaluru supported by Rajiv Gandhi National institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD), Sriperumbudur held on 19th and 20th of July, 2018.
The main objective was to make the learners aware about the need for mental health awareness, youth volunteering for spreading the awareness and to carry out an Action project. The two day workshop began with understanding the level of awareness the students had about mental health and henceforth proceeded to psycho-educate them about common mental health disorder with its symptoms and epidemiology. The final session of day one covered a variety of topics such as pyramid framework of pathways to recovery, self-care, self-empowerment and evaluation of negative thoughts.
The second day started of with the importance of listening, supporting someone in distress and do’s and don’ts, continued by explaining about support, common errors in supporting, impact of support enhancement and showing a peer support video by NIMHANS titled “Push”. In the next session the students were divided into various groups and were instructed to work on a project where instructions were given separately. The workshop concluded with an oath taking to volunteer for the awareness of mental health.
The two day workshop was very practical, thought provoking and informative. The rich experience of the resource team helped the students to have a lot of knowledge and helped them in updating various information and unknown facts about mental health. The workshop also galvanized each participant to go ahead with the action project with zeal.
Workshop On “Applied Behavioural Analysis”
Department of Psychology had organized a 2 day workshop on “Applied Behavioural Analysis” for the final year M.Sc. Psychology students (Clinical Specialization) on 19th and 20th of July, 2018. With the main aim of making the students aquatinted to the nuances of behaviour therapy, the students were trained by Ms. Kinnari Bhatt, a Board Certified Analyst and Director, DAKSH ABA & Autism Services.
In the morning session of day 1, students were briefed about what Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) is and also explored the various applications of ABA. She briefed about the role of data in ABA and how it adds on the scientific flavour to ABA. She also addressed the various myths and misconceptions in the field and also spoke about the history of ABA. In the second session she started with the basic principles (Operant conditioning) applied in ABA. She was giving a lot of practical examples to clarify the hairline differences among the six different types of reinforcement. The session ended with an ASR Quiz.
The second days’ session, started with information required to register and get certified in ABA. This was followed by detailed discussion on topcs such as Reinforcement, usage of language in ABA, ways of using language (paraphrasing) and measurement of language in behavioural analysis and a group activity was conducted on Antecedent, Behaviour & Consequence (ABC). The final session was about Classification of Language, the reasons for behaviour, functions of behaviour, replacement of behaviour and methods of dealing with problem behaviour.
By the end of the two days students found the program to be very useful and practical. The students had a good idea about how an ABA based intervention could be administered on clients.
Workshop
With the motive to enhance the hands on experience of the students to use different softwares in research two day workshop on Research and SPSS Applications were conducted on 7-8 March 2017. The workshop was very educative and provided further practical tips on methods of using SPSS and other software’s like G power. The workshop focused on both the theoretical and practical aspects of research. Few students got the opportunity to analyze their research data in the workshop using SPSS. The workshop ended with the feedback session which was held during the valediction.
Guest Lecture
1. Dr. Jayashankara Reddy, Professor in Psychology, Christ University, Bangalore addressed the undergraduate students on 29 August 2016. He spoke on the basics of biology and behavior; it refreshed the division of the nervous system and then moved on to the brain the functioning of brain and its further divisions. The lobes and their functioning were also discussed and the lecture went interactive with students clarifying their question with regard to the topic.
2. Department of Psychology organized a guest lecture on 3 February 2017. Dr. George V Mathew the Founder of the new branch of Psychology called the Holigarative Psychology spoke on the history of parapsychology. He also explained that the parapsychology is very much a part of psychology like any other branch.
Field Visit
The postgraduate students of Psychology department organized a field visit on 2-3 March 2017 to the Manasa Neuropsychiatric Clinic at Shivamoga, where the students attended sessions on Psychotherapy and also demonstrated various equipment and other facilities in the institution.
Panel Discussion
The department of Psychology, Kristu Jayanti College, organised a panel discussion on 15 December 2016 in commemoration with the observance of International day for persons with disabilities, themed “A partnership that enables”. A panel of three vibrant speakers lead by moderator Dr. S.K Tripathi, Deputy Director NICC, Bangalore, actively discussed and rendered new insights to overlap the stigma of disability and assist them.
Guest Lecture
Dr. Cathy Fernandes, Program Leader, MSc Genes Kings College London addressed the psychology students on 11 November 2016. The lecture stressed on the recent trends regarding the debate of Nature Vs Nurture where though it was introduced as a debate later on was explained as an interdependent phenomena which interacts with each other to evolve itself. Dr. Cathy highlighted the recent research in the field of genetics, which further proved that there is a strong influence of the environment on how the gene is expressed. She also stressed on the need to conduct further research on the environments role on how it influences interacts with the genetics of the organism.
Extension Service
As part of the Extension Service activity students of M.Sc. Psychology have been involved in teaching learning practices; on 20th May 2015 Personality development classes were conducted for the BBM students of Kristu Jayanti College.
Workshop
On 18 July 2014, Dr. Anima Nair, Director, Kaleidoscope had an interaction with the psychology students of Kristu Jayanti College. The intention of the workshop was to understand Autism and was very useful to the students to deal with the autistic children. The speaker clearly gave the complete information on Autism and care for autistic children. Sense Kaleidoscopes is a vocational training center for children (over the age of 12) and young adults on the autism spectrum founded with the aim of ultimately getting them to become employable according to each individual's ability.
Guest Lecture
Mr. Anantho, Therapist at Athama Shakthi Vidalia addressed the Psychology students on 18 July 2014 about the therapeutic alliance between the client and the therapist also explained how it can help the client to improve in his/ her life.
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