As the demand for quality mental healthcare and
education continues to grow in Southeast Asia, a US-based non-profit
organisation will organise an online workshop aiming to bring together early
career researchers, practitioners, and community leaders working in mental
health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) field in Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam
to foster collaboration and strengthen the area’s capacity in the region.
The conference will feature keynote speakers,
Dr Robert Lemelson from University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) who is a
leading anthropologist and documentary filmmaker, as well as Dr Bahr Weiss from
Vanderbilt University, who is an expert in child psychopathology and global
mental health.
There are also many other scholars from top
US institutions, including Harvard University, UCLA, Georgetown University, and
University of California San Diego (UCSD), who will lead discussion, training,
and workshop sessions during the conference.
There is no fee and all attendees will be
awarded a certificate.
“Although Cambodia has made enormous
progress, the country is still recovering from the mental health fallout of
nearly three decades of conflict,” explained Elena Lesley, PhD, an SEAMHI
co-founded who has worked in Cambodia since the early 2000s.
“I’m really excited about this initiative,
because I believe it will bring much-needed resources to mental health
professionals in the country, and also build networks with scholars and
practitioners throughout the region and in the United States.”
For decades, mental health had not gathered
much attention in Cambodia, despite the people’s traumatic history during the
Khmer Rouge regime (1975-1979). However, the Covid-19 pandemic which haunted
the Kingdom in the past shows that there is an urgent call for solutions to improve
mental health and save lives. Still, very few mental health resources in
Cambodia related to the needs, especially considering the psychological stress
caused by the recent pandemic, are available.
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