Introduction

Health psychology is an exciting and relatively new field devoted to understanding

psychological influences on how people stay healthy, why they become ill, and how they

respond when they do get ill. Health psychologists both study such issues and develop

interventions to help people stay well or recover from illness. For example, a health

psychology researcher might be interested in why people continue to smoke even though

they know that smoking increases their risk of cancer and heart disease. World Health

Organization (1948) defined health as “a complete state of physical, mental, and social well-

being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” This definition is at the core of

health psychologists’ conception of health. Rather than defining health as the absence of

illness, health is recognized to be an achievement involving balance among physical, mental,

and social well-being. Health psychologists also focus on the etiology and correlates of

health, illness, and dysfunction. Health psychologists analyze and attempt to improve the

health care system and the formulation of health policy. They study the impact of health

institutions and health professionals on people’s behavior to develop recommendations for

improving health care.

Common issues treated by health psychologists include stress, weight, or pain

management, smoking cessation, and reducing risky sexual or health-related behaviors.

Health psychologists can help people change problematic behaviors to improve their overall

health and well-being.

Psychoeducation

Psychoeducation is health psychology combined with behavioral counseling and even

psychotherapy. The behavioral counseling component of psychoeducation deals with

emotions, perceptions, coping, relaxation, and self-care, whereas the educational component

imparts knowledge about the physical or psychological condition that is shared by the

participants in the group. There are four components in psychoeducation, which may vary in

their concentration depending upon the condition being addressed, but it is not

psychoeducation unless all four components are present, including treatment of the condition;

management of the condition, especially those that are chronic, and intractable; compliance

with the medical and psychological regimen; and prevention of progression, exacerbation, or

relapse. Psychoeducation is defined as teaching that uses psychological and learning

principles to facilitate the personal, emotional, and intellectual development of students in a

classroom setting. Since psychoeducation focuses on both the cognitive and affective

domains of learning, feelings, and emotions have equal weight with conceptual and factual

knowledge. It believes that behavioral change is primarily a teaching-learning process. To be

effective and long-term behavior change strategies must include cognitive, affective and

behavioral aspects. In the psycho-educational classroom, educating children about the

motivation behind their behavior plays a vital role. Researcher C. M. Anderson popularized

and formally developed psychoeducation in the field of psychotherapy in 1980. Anderson

proposed psychoeducation as a method of reducing relapse rates among patients with

schizophrenia. In her study, Anderson focused on educating family members of patients

about the symptoms and treatments associated with schizophrenia, and her results

demonstrated that this education reduced relapse rates. Since the main focus of

psychoeducation is the transfer of knowledge, no formal or prescriptive standards exist to

determine how sessions should be conducted. Psychoeducational interventions can be

delivered in various ways and in a number of settings. They may also vary in session length,

number, and overall time span (months or years).

Goals of Psychoeducation

Psychoeducation occurs in a range of contexts and may be conducted by a variety of

professionals, each with a differing emphasis. In general, however, four broad goals direct

most psychoeducation efforts: • Information transfer (as when clients/patients and their

families and carers learn about symptoms, causes, and treatment concepts) • Emotional

discharge (a goal served as the patient/client or family ventilates frustrations during the

sessions or exchanges with similar others their experiences concerning the problem)

• Support of a medication or other treatment, as cooperation grows between professional and

client/patient and adherence and compliance issues diminish • Assistance toward self-help

(that is, training in aspects such as prompt recognition of crisis situations and knowledge of

what steps should be taken)

Safe and Unsafe touch

According to a report by child rights NGO CRY, in India sexual offence is committed

against a child every 15 minutes and there has been an increase of more than 500 percent

over the past 10 years in crime against minors. Schools, parks, playgrounds, and even homes

aren’t safe anymore as in most of the cases of child-rape, the perpetrator of the crime of

known to the victim. According to The National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), in 2014,

37,519 cases of child rape were registered in India. These statistics reveal that it’s the

children, regardless of the gender and not the women, who are mostly preyed upon. A report

by Human Rights Watch titled “Breaking the Silence: Child Sexual Abuse in India” stated

that “While great awareness has been raised about sexual violence against women in India,
much less is known about the problem of sexual abuse of children. Studies suggest that more

than 7,200 children, including infants, are raped every year; experts believe that many more

cases go unreported.”

Need and Significance

The news is filled with horrific examples of sexual atrocities committed against young

children, even babies as young as 8 months have been sexually abused and raped. While this

is definitely something that needs a law and order intervention, it just proves that it is that

much more imperative that we start the conversation about sexual abuse and harassment with

all children as soon as possible, in an age-appropriate manner to keep them protected. This is

not an easy conversation to have, as many compare it to stripping away the innocence of

childhood and letting kids grow up being overly cautious and wary. But with several cases

being reported from schools and huge building communities, it has become imperative to

broach this topic with kids. The only way to ensure the safety of our children is to create

awareness about this subject. It’s important to teach children early on what are the different

parts of their body. What is a safe touch and an unsafe touch. What should the child do if

someone touches them inappropriately? Helping children identify their trusted circle of

family members and caregivers allows them to be confident about sharing any unpleasant

incidences.

Aim

To conduct a psychoeducation session for students of age 8 to 10 about sexual awareness.

Objectives

• To create sexual awareness in children.

• To develop positive attitudes and behaviors surrounding sexual abuse assault and

harassment.

• To educate the student community about sexual violence and reduce these issues.

Method

Plan

Conduct a 1-hour psycho-education class on the topic “Good touch and Bad touch” in school

students of classes 3 and 4 by PG students of the psychology department.

Procedure

First, permission to conduct the awareness class was received from the Headmistress of

Govt. UP School South Vazhakulam and the date was fixed to conduct the awareness class on

7th August 2023. The students of the PG Department of Psychology were divided into four

groups constituting four members each. A module was prepared containing the important

aspects of the topic with recreational activities and a rhyme related to the topic. A practice

session was conducted before the actual class. The class was conducted on the said date in a

total of four classes of 3rd and 4th. Verbal feedback was collected from the children at the

end of the session.

Sessions Taken

As a strong step towards making our children safe, a fruitful session on the topic

“Safe Touch and Unsafe touch” was organized by the PG Department of Psychology of MES

College, Marampally, in Government UP School, North Vazhakulam on August 4, 2023,

from 1.00 pm to 2.00 pm for students of first to fourth standard. The session was conducted

by the Students of the PG Department of Psychology, with the sole objective of spreading

awareness against Child Sexual Abuse and educating children about Safe Touch and Unsafe
Touch which exist as dark realities in society today. The Awareness class was a part of the

Community Outreach Programme 2023 conducted by the PG department of MES College

Marampally in association with the MES Marampally Counselling Center.

The whole department was divided into four groups and each group took the class to

each division. At first, an ice-breaking session (Ball Passing) was conducted to reduce the

disinhibition of the children. Then the resource person presented a very informative and

useful session on Safe touch and Unsafe touch and also tried to explain to the students how to

identify safe and unsafe touch and also what to do when an unsafe touch is experienced by

them whether in school or any other public place. The children learned to identify the bad

touch areas. They also learned to handle strangers who made unwanted touch and how to

express their disagreement by saying “Do not touch me.” The children were taught to inform

about such happenings to their parents, teachers, and adults they trust. The resource person

conducted a practical demonstration which gave the children a clear picture about the safe

circle and made the concept of safe and unsafe touch very clear. This also helped the children

to recognize, safeguard, and protect themselves against such dangers from an early age. After

the session, a small game was introduced to the children to actively engage in the program.

At the end, a rhyme was taught to the children showcasing the private parts. Overall, it was a

very interactive and interesting session where all the children gave their responses to many

questions when asked. At the end of the session, verbal feedback was taken. A token of

gratitude was proposed to the school teachers for allowing the College to conduct the session

and to the lovely children who attentively engaged themselves in the entire session.
Self-Reflection

This programme was helpful for children in developing healthy relationships and

understanding consent. It teaches them to recognize and respect the boundaries of others and

encourages empathy and communication. This helps in fostering positive relationships

throughout their lives. I hope this will more effective if its possible to provide awareness

classes for parents too. For the next time, we will provide worksheet to students and feedback

form to record their learnings and suggestions.

References

Taylor, S . E. (2015) Health Psychology. (9th Ed.) McGraw-Hill Education.

Health psychology. (2017). Good therapy

https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/types/health-psychology