Some 50 regular and job-order employees of the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) are currently undergoing Stress Debriefing led by discussants Eldon Hans Serame, RRT, Senior Health Program Officer for Mental Health of the Department of Health – Center for Health and Development (DOH-CHD) 12 and Sheena Calendro, Counselor of HACT – IPHO.
The stress debriefing which will be conducted from May 8 -29, according to Serame, is an off-shoot of the CoViD-19 Pandemic with the objective to lessen stress and worries, to release burdening emotions that may have been stored for too long, to discover other ways on how to deal and solve problems, and to help other participants on their problem by giving tips on how you solved yours, among IPHO personnel.
The duo grouped the employees into 6 – 7 individuals where they were asked questions such as “what is bothering you?, what did you do to overcome or solve your worries or problems? and what you recommend to other participants on solving their problems.”
Since the topic is confidential in nature, participants were requested by Serame to adhere to the house rules such as, “not to reveal what happened during the debriefing session to other participants, respect the opinions of co-participants, to listen attentively, to talk but wait for your turn, and your position doesn’t matter now.”
Each session lasted for an hour with each participant voicing their individual worries and stresses and likewise sharing on how they cope with it.
Calendro also counseled participants about the techniques on how to cope with stresses and problems.
“Mediate and reflect, take time to practice breathing exercises, pray and reflect how strong and resilient you are.” Serame concluded.
