Guwahati, C.M. Paul: Mrs. Loya Agarwala, a Psychological Counsellor addressed the entire DBU faculty with a 3-hour presentation on: Psychological Counselling – Pressures of Digital Generation. It was part of the Professional Development Programme, held at the beginning of the academic year, 17th July 2013.

Alumnus of Brunel University, West London, Mrs. Agarwala working specifically in the arena of Youth Counselling for the last ten years stressed on the need

‘to be empowered as teacher counsellors to help bridge the gap and reach out to the modern generation.’

She gauged the participants current ‘Empathic Score’ by administering a standardized test with the help of a questionnaire consisting of 20 questions. Majority of the faculty members, mostly of young teachers, scored more than the cut off score of 66 points.

In another moment she tested faculty members knowledge of their students by a quiz prepared by her teenage son who claimed that

‘none of the faculty would give any correct answers’ to the 20 questions he put together as a challenge.

Mrs. Agarwala confessed that she had quizzed her dad who was 80 years plus and found that he could not get any correct answers to the quiz. However, the DBU faculty surprised Mrs. Agarwala with a high score even at the ‘know your teen quiz’.

During 3-hour long afternoon session Mrs. Agarwala taught the faculty members to recognize early signs of stress and depression among young people who will need their pro-active counselling. She also equipped faculty members with practical skills to handle stress and depression among young people on campus.

Mrs. Agarwalas first book based on real case studies of her experiences as an Adolescent Counsellor is due to be released by national publisher Westland in October 2013.