FAQs

Mental health includes your psychological, emotional, and social well-being. It affects how you make choices, relate to others, handle stress, and so much more. Everyone has mental health, just like everyone has physical health. Conditions such as stress, depression, and anxiety can all affect your mental health and create challenges.

During the first therapy session, your therapist will help you feel welcome, comfortable and safe. They will go over informed consent to counselling and spend time understanding your expectations from therapy, your context and history and see if you're two a good fit to work together in therapy.

Each therapy session lasts for 50-55 minutes approximately.

Your therapist is not qualified to prescribe you any medications; but in the need of a diagnosis or medications, your therapist can help you consult with a clinical psychologist/psychiatrist collaboratively.

We recommend booking your session at least a week in advance to ensure availability.

• HAP is the first of its kind in the twin cities to offer training to individuals to ensure that adequate preparation in practical skills, theoretical knowledge and supervision is provided to those who are engaged in the process of helping others.
• The faculty comprises of experts in the field of counseling psychology who are trained in the practice of psychological counseling from some of the best universities in USA and India.
• Our course is open to graduates in all disciplines since we believe in orienting individuals to adequate training and appropriate practice methodologies. This allows individuals to further themselves in the field of counseling psychology in most ethical and practical manner.
• We offer practicum training in some of the best institutions in the twin cities. Our practicum sites include, but are not limited to schools, clinics, hospitals, colleges, mental health centers, de addition units and so forth.
• The practicum experience moves beyond training individuals as school counselors or career counselors. We believe in providing our students with a taste for everything including being corporate trainers to addiction therapists, based on their interest and aptitude.
• We offer placement opportunities for well deserved candidates.
• We believe in a low ratio of faculty to students to promote a conducive learning environment and do not accept more than 10-12 students per batch.
• We provide extensive assistance for students interested in higher education in psychology in the US and India.

According to the American Counseling Association, Psychological Counseling is: "The application of mental health, psychological or human development principles, through cognitive, affective, behavioral or systematic intervention strategies, that address wellness, personal growth, or career development, as well as pathology." A Counseling Psychologist or a Psychological Counselor performs a plethora of activities in the area of human services. This includes providing individual, group, marital, family and career counseling. Counselors / Psychologists work in diverse settings such as in patient and outpatient units of hospitals, clinics, schools, de addiction centers, domestic violence units, universities and so forth.

• A Counseling Psychologist holds a doctorate (Ph.D.) in the field of Counseling Psychology and a Psychological Counselor is a Master's level therapist in the same area. Both are trained primarily in the practice of psychotherapy and counseling. These delineations are consistent with training and education in counseling psychology in the U.S. At the HAP, we follow the norms maintained by US psychological training services. Accordingly, our services are provided by specialists trained as psychological counselors as well as counseling psychologists.
• In America, where our core faculty have trained, Counseling Psychology and Clinical Psychology are sister fields and the training and practice components of both contain almost identical elements. However, the philosophy of training is different. Counseling Psychologists are trained from a positive psychology and strength based perspective, which is what HAP services are based upon.
• In India, the US Counseling Psychologist degree is equivalent to the Clinical Psychologist degree.

• At the HAP counseling center, we adhere to the ethics code as given by the American Psychological Association (APA) and the American Counseling Association (ACA) for the practice of counseling and adapt it to the Indian Context.
• Our practitioners have extensive experience in the area of counseling psychology.
• We are the only organization in the twin cities to offer counseling services on par with American psychological and mental health services.

Here are some pointers you need to have in order to make an informed decision on who you finally work with. (Excerpted from Psychotherapy Guild (USA) and APA)

Questions that are appropriate for your initial conversations with a psychotherapist (can be clinical social work, counseling psychologist etc) might include any or all of the following:

• Does the therapist / counselor use a type of therapy such as individual, group or family that fits your needs?
• Do you feel comfortable with the therapist / counselor and do you feel you can trust him or her?
• Does the therapist / counselor seem confident and professional in his or her presentation?
• Is the therapist / counselor nonjudgmental and respectful of you and the issues you are bringing to therapy?
• Do you feel the therapist / counselor has an essential understanding of your description of the problems or issues about which you are seeking help?
• Does your therapist / counselor have the qualifications, training and experience to work with your particular issues and does the therapist / counselor willingly discuss his or her expertise when asked?
• Is the therapist / counselor clear about the business aspects of the relationship such as meeting times, scheduling, fees and method of payment?
• What does the therapist / counselor charge and what payment options does he or she offer
  e. g., does he or she accept insurance or does he or she have any options for reduced fee if finances are a significant concern in your decision about whether or not to engage in therapy/counseling?
• Does the therapist / counselor explain issues of confidentiality, treatment goals and planning, diagnosis (if any), informed consent about various treatment options, his or her availability outside of session, backup during his or her absence (such as vacations) and procedures for emergencies?
• As a client it is also important to know your bill of rights. Ask your therapist about your rights as a client seeking services, if the therapist has not already provided you with it.
• Other questions that are appropriate during the initial stages of your work with a counselor / psychotherapist include the following:
• Is the counselor / psychotherapist willing to discuss any matter of concern to you? (It is important to note, however, that most counselors / psychotherapists refrain from giving extensive personal information about them, in order to keep the therapy appropriately focused on your issues.)
• Does the counselor / psychotherapist handle your questions with respect and discuss with you his or her position on self disclosure
• Finally, It is important to know that, in India, given that the practice of psychology is only now establishing ground, there is no legal body delineating ethical practices for the profession (such as APA or ACA). The Counseling Association of India has been given permission to use the ACA code of ethics for the practice of counseling psychology / psychological counseling but since it is not mandatory for professionals to be registered with CAI one is not legally bound by it. Hence, the field is best practiced in the hands of those professionals who not only adhere to strong ethical practices but are also open and aware of diverse perspectives in the field.

According to the American Psychological Association you should consider counseling / therapy If...

• You feel an overwhelming and prolonged sense of helplessness and sadness and your problems do not seem to get better despite your efforts and help from family and friends.
• You are finding it difficult to carry out everyday activities: for example, you are unable to concentrate on assignments at work and your job performance is suffering as a result.
• You worry excessively, expect the worst or are constantly on edge.
• Your actions are harmful to yourself or to others: for instance, you are drinking too much alcohol, abusing drugs or becoming overly argumentative and aggressive.
• In case your issues are unique and don't fit the above considerations please contact our experts at the HAP counseling center for an appointment to find out more.

HAP conducts year round workshops for professionals and laypersons in the area of psychology. For more information on workshops and eligibility please visit our services link. We also design workshops and training sessions for students, teachers, corporates and other institutions. For more information on scheduling training sessions at your institutions please contact us.

Recognition for counseling courses is offered by an accrediting agency or body of professionals. Since such an agency or body does not currently exist in India, there is no way to seek accreditation or recognition for our courses at this time. However, we maintain the highest standards of practice by ensuring that we hire currently practicing and well trained professionals, frequently updating ourselves by attending seminars, conferences and workshops and networking with other professionals in the country and world. The HAP is a private organization and our courses are currently not affiliated to any university.

After completing a counseling course at the HAP, we guide students towards any available opportunities for job placements. Given our wide network of contacts in the field we are frequently able to help students gain an appropriate career placement or guide them towards higher education in psychology, if they so choose. Our students often choose to work part time while continuing their education in psychology and we help them achieve both goals. Given that job placements depend on availability of positions and an individuals skills and knowledge, we cannot guarantee a job placement; however, we work hard to ensure that our students find a placement of their choice to the extent possible.