AN online webinar called ‘Let’s talk mental health’, hosted by Mental Health Consultant and owner of Azadi Psychological Care, Zayn Alli, will be launched with its first session on May 1, 2023, at 18:00 hrs.

According to Alli, it is virtual and open to all members of the public, to discuss mental health and its underlying issues in a safe, non-judgmental space.

The webinar will be held either once or twice per week, depending on feedback from participants, and will centre around different topics each session, such as anxiety, depression, mental health and religious beliefs, and more.

He said this webinar aims to create a society where persons embrace mental health in Guyana.

“A lot of people want to reach out but they don’t know how they can reach out or they don’t know who to reach out to…the main objective is to bring more awareness for mental health,” he said.

Alli said that it is a free discussion webinar for persons to talk about their mental health issues and they can attend as guests if they want to keep their identities private.
He said that professionals, as well as himself, will be available to give advice and hold discussions during the webinar.

The mental health consultant explained that he originally wanted to start a podcast about mental health but realised that there was no room for discussion there since it would just be him talking.

“What if people want to be able to have discussions about it? Let me not do a podcast. I’ll do a webinar where we can communicate and persons can communicate with professionals and we can be able to have question and answer segments and they can be able to contribute what they’re going through; we can get the data from them, and we can try to help them as much as we can,” Alli said.

Noting that he came up with the idea of the webinar just over a month ago, he said right after, he began to create flyers and put systems in place to hold the sessions.
He will be utilising Google Meet which will be broadcast live to Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

Alli encouraged people to join the upcoming discussions because they are trying to create a more positive environment where a person can openly say what they feel and ask for help, advice, and directions to key persons to provide them with help.

“If anybody in general has any questions or would like to know more about the education surrounding mental health, then this webinar is directly fit for those individuals,” he said.

Alli is in the process of completing his Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology at the American University of Peace Studies and will move forward in 2024 to Arizona State University to complete his Master’s.

He said that he is on the base of philanthropy, whereby he tries to donate as much as he can when he can.

“If we have donations, we can be able to donate it to persons in need. So, it is a bit all based on philanthropy work. I volunteer my time and effort into giving back to the community and I know I can’t give back much but I can give the education that I’m learning and the education that I’ve learned so far so I can share it a bit around,” he related.

Alli started his company, Azadi Psychological Care, which offers consultation by linking a person with the psychologist or a psychiatrist they may need.

The company is currently working on a website to provide people with more access to their services.

“They can be able to find the profile for each individual counsellor listed on the website and they would be able to seek out mental health consultations. They can seek out psychotherapy and they can see the costs for sessions and it’s all going to be on the website so you don’t have to leave your house to get mental health care,” he explained.

Through the website, persons would also be able to book appointments online with the assurance of 100 percent confidentiality.