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Pune, Sunday, Januray 22, 2012: 'Liaison psychology - making mental health care affordable and accessible through interdisciplinary collaborations,' is the theme for the 38th National Annual Conference of the Indian Association of Clinical Psychologists - NACIACP 2012.
The three-day conference will begin at Yashada on January 27.
Diagnosis and certification of civil and criminal cases, animal assisted therapies and folk healing practices in India will be some of the topics of discussion at the meet.
"Every year, the conference holds elaborate discussions on psychological issues and their management that are relevant to western countries. The need of the hour is to look at indigenous problems like farmer suicides, stigma attached to mental illness, treatment practices that give importance to ghosts, spirits, and the like and try to and search for local ways of resolving them," said clinical psychologist Radhika Bapat, the organising secretary of the conference.
The conference will feature symposia and workshops focusing on grassroots level interventions and innovations, self-sustaining programs for rehabilitation, telemedicine and other novel ideas for spreading mental health facilities in rural areas along with academic presentations exploring the realms of clinical psychology, health psychology and neuro-psychology, Bapat said.
The conference aims to bring together professionals working in areas ranging from mental healthcare and the neurosciences to engineering and design to find practical and lasting solutions to the problem of accessibility.
"It will attempt to bring together a convergence of clinical psychologist, neurologists, paediatricians, non-specialist health workers, lawyers, teachers, parents, speech therapists, occupational therapists and caregivers from across the country to speak on innovative ways and means of tackling psychological issues specific to India," Bapat said.
Topics that arouse one's curiosity like folk healing practices in India and their contemporary relevance as well as healing in a spiritual context will be dealt with by experts on the first day of the conference, Bapat said.
"The lower income group like some of our farmers or people who work on daily wages cannot afford the expensive treatment currently available and we need to work towards providing affordable psychological solutions to the common man. Hence we decided to support this cause being undertaken by Sahyadri Hospital's Child Guidance Centre," said neurosurgeon Charudatt Apte, managing director and chairman, Sahyadri Hospitals.
Ref: TOI
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