Regional Workshop on Family Counseling In the Arab World
02-22-2014
Amman, January 22nd (Petra)- With the participation of 8 Arab countries including Jordan, a regional workshop opened on Sunday on the importance of family counseling in the Arab world.
The workshop aims at shedding light on the importance of family counseling in light of the numerous challenges that face the family and the society and give rise to various family issues and problems that demand utmost skills on the part of the staff working in institutions involved in this field.
According to the Acting Secretary-General of the National Council for Family Affairs (NCFA) Mohammad Miqdady, the challenges confronting the family, in light of the different social, economic, health and political problems that hinder its progress and adaptation, demand specialized programs to ensure stability of the family and its members such as counseling
Having given the issue of family counseling its utmost attention, the Council has systematically implemented, under the directives of H.M. Queen Rania al-Abdullah chairperson of the Council, a number of activities and programs with clear outcomes that contribute to safeguarding the family and its members, Miqdady added. Those were manifested in conducting scientific research and evaluation on the state of family counseling in Jordan, preparing scientific guidebooks dealing with family counseling to operate as reference books to various researchers, academics and concerned individuals and establishing academic programs in universities to qualify specialized staff to work in family counseling.
On her part, Huda bint Yusuf, Arab Family Organization Secretary-General, emphasized that specialists in family affairs believe the safest and best solutions lie in focusing on prevention. An idea that can be realized by collaborating with other national and Arab institutions and organizations and their affiliates working in the field in a framework of participation that guarantees positive interaction of all sides to attain envisaged goals.
Bint Yusuf pointed out that counseling starts by raising the awareness of young couples seeking marriage, stressing at the same time the fact that family upbringing and its cooperation with the educational institutions in addition to the provision of an adequate environment for a balanced upbringing of the child in terms of substance, ways and methods consolidate the child's cultural identity and consequently establish a united family and a cohesive society that are able to weather all challenges.
Furthermore, Bint Yusuf highlighted the issue of building the capacities of counseling institutions to ensure positive outcomes and to be risk free; hence the need to equip family counselors with adequate academic training and to exchange expertise among Arab states.
It is noteworthy that the workshop seeks to identify the preventive and therapeutic role of family counseling in protecting the family against all kinds of pressures and problems, the legislative and legal structures that organize it and the extent of improvements required to those structures. It also attempts to encourage a participatory approach among stakeholders in a way that brings about positive cooperation to achieve pre-set goals and exchange expertise and success stories of national and Arab entities working in the field
