On 7 June, QMES successfully held a training session on student mental health support. The event was attended by all teachers from the Student Mental Health Education Centre of the NPU Student Affairs Department, Dai Fuping, Secretary of the QMES Party Committee, Cheng Yin, Deputy Secretary of the QMES Party Committee, Huang Quanzhang, Director of the Student Affairs Office, as well as full-time QMES counsellors and student affairs officers.

To enhance communication and learning, improve work systems and environments, and promote the standardisation and scientific development of counselling stations, QMES has recently upgraded its psychological counselling facilities. This includes equipping the stations with professional counselling tools such as sand trays, creating a more comfortable and stress-relieving environment for students. Initially, the teachers from the Student Mental Health Education Centre of the NPU Student Affairs Department visited the QMES counselling station. Zhang Cuixian from the NPU Student Work Department provided feedback on the station’s development, suggesting adding more elements to enhance its comforting atmosphere.

Subsequently, Liu Xin, Deputy Director of the Student Mental Health Education Centre at NPU, conducted a training session on “Identifying and Intervening in Psychological Crises Among University Students”. Liu provided a detailed overview of methods for recognising psychological crises and standards and techniques for prevention and intervention. Following the training, Liu Xin engaged in an in-depth discussion with counsellors from various grades, focusing on case studies involving psychological difficulties.

The Student Mental Health Education Centre of the NPU Student Affairs Department will enhance its professional training and guidance for the QMES counselling stations. Leveraging platforms such as the “Sunshine Escort” series, the centre will organise specialised training in psychological counselling skills, ethical standards, handling special cases, crisis warning and intervention, and routine assessment and follow-up. These efforts aim to maximise the role of QMES counselling stations in areas such as education and promotion, psychological support, crisis screening, and dynamic monitoring.

At the same time, QMES will strengthen training and guidance for peer counsellors and other student support teams. This will involve specialised training sessions for peer counsellors conducted by the Student Mental Health Centre, as well as various activities such as enhanced training for QMES peer counsellors, quality development exercises for peer teams, and the selection of the “Top Ten Peer Counsellors”. These initiatives will create a platform for peer teams to exchange and learn from each other, foster integration within the peer support network, and actively promote psychological protection knowledge. The goal is to develop a comprehensive support system that extends throughout QMES, playing a positive role in psychological education and support.

The QMES’s mental health counselling station serves as both a sanctuary for students’ emotional healing and a source of energy replenishment. It is also a crucial hub and backbone of the mental health education system of NPU. Building on the current development of the counselling station, QMES will continue to enhance its substance, focus on development, and raise its standards. Efforts will be made to create highlights that better leverage the QMES’s central role and establish a new, tiered and collaborative model for nurturing students.

(Text: Wang Ruixuan; Photo: Wang Ruixuan; Edit: Han Huichun; Translate: Shen Xinyi; Review: Cheng Yin)