Cape Town - The first of its kind, Community and Mental Convention 2022, is set to take place in Fish Hoek this weekend.
The inaugural two-day convention by the Family Counselling Centre will provide a platform for businesses, professionals and organisations to network as well as introduce mental health services and practitioners to the community.
The convention will take place at King of Kings Baptist Centre in Sun Valley on Friday and Saturday.
Family Counselling Centre founding director and Far South Counselling CEO, Andrea Nettel, said the idea was to get people together in the field who had an interest in mental health and in community building.
“The youngsters, those in high school, are really struggling with anxiety, depression, a sort of a sense of hopelessness. Then obviously in the poorer communities, unfortunately, there are a lot of trauma-based struggles.
“Not that trauma doesn’t reach the more affluent people, but more affluent people have more access to mental health services to help them through those processes, so that is a huge issue. There’s a huge sense of hopelessness, unemployment, the pandemic and coming out of the pandemic.
“We're having to reconnect with life and having social interactions seem to be weighing heavily on people and in the community in general, and substance abuse and eating disorders are spiking hugely,” Nettel said.
Friday afternoon will feature 23-24 exhibitors from 12.30pm until 5pm. Friday evening’s programme will include a networking event and screening of the film “Disconnect”. Saturday’s programme will include a panel discussion for booked delegates.
Tickets can be purchased via the Family Counselling Centre website. To find out more, email [email protected] or call 0210230016.