Online peer discussion groups in the spirit of encouraging one another and support each other

The COVID-19 pandemic has left many of us facing challenges that can be stressful and cause strong, negative emotions. Thus, The Counselling Services of Student Affairs had organized the peer discussion group to give the opportunity for students to engage with each other by learning and reflecting on each other experiences. These peer discussions group were conducted virtually via ZOOM Meeting and were facilitated by the Registered Counsellors of SEGi University.

The peer discussion group was held on 25th June 2021 with the topic “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay- Beating the Lockdown Blues”. The participants had shared about their experiences during the first lockdown in year 2020 till recent lockdown, and their self-care techniques in beating the lockdown blues. It was an eye opening sharing as they shared some interesting and unique ways in self care which could be adopted by others too.

Some of comments from participants:
“I have learned many of us will have different types of grief cycles during lockdown.”
“From what I learned from this group discussion, I realized that I was not the only person who was struggling to cope with the lockdown.”
“Everyone shared their experiences of lockdown, and it gave me an idea of how to cope.”

What is love? One of our deepest emotional needs is to feel loved by the significant people in our lives. Most of us seem to be hankering after romantic love. However, few of us realize that, far from being timeless and universal, romantic love is a modern construct that emerged in tandem with the novel.

On 16th July 2021, Registered Counsellor Ms Hana (Counselling Services of Student Affairs) facilitated the peer discussion group with the topic “7 Types of Love According to Psychologists”. It was an interesting and fruitful discussion as the participants were fascinated to learn that there were various types of love and not only boy-girl relationship as portrayed by the media. The participants had a great time as they shared their personal experiences and gained some valuable life lessons upon hearing from each other.

Here’s to more beneficial group discussions in future and kudos to all!

“Sharing will enrich everyone with more knowledge.” Ana Monnar

Most participants from various faculties and 1 from post graduate studies.