In the pursuit to address the children’s mental health and help them cope following the onslaught of Severe Tropical Storm (STS) Paeng in the Bangsamoro Region, as part of the mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) interventions of the Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD), its field social workers facilitated series of simultaneous play therapy sessions for the displaced children at the evacuation centers in St. Francis Episcopal School of Upi, Inc., Notre Dame of Upi, Inc., and Darugao Court, Upi, Maguindanao del Norte and St. Peter and St. Paul Episcopal Institute, Cotabato City.
The said displacement sites are where the internally displaced families from hard-hit areas of STS Paeng including Maguindanao del Norte and Cotabato City are temporarily sheltered.
During the play therapy sessions, MSSD field social workers facilitated activities like creative visualization and interactive games for the displaced children.
Play therapy is one of the forms of MHPSS interventions that foster relational experiences between the counselor and children through playing as means of social interaction.
“Aside from providing welfare goods and places for them to stay, we also need to address the mental health of the displaced families in order to ensure a holistic approach in our social interventions,” said Asnaida Deguzman, designated provincial MHPSS Focal Person.
“We started conducting MHPSS sessions on October 31 at the evacuation centers in the municipalities of Datu Odin Sinsuat and Ampatuan and we will continue doing similar activities like this in the other typhoon-affected areas in the province,” she added.
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