Marriage counsellors have been urged to work hard to establish a peaceful society by reducing casualties of broken homes.
The advice was given at the graduation of M-Solution Consulting’s July Diet of Marriage Counsellors’ Course.
Guest speaker Associate Professor of Counselling Psychology at Lagos State University (LASU) in Ojo Dr. Airat Sulaimon told the graduates to develop themselves and keep up with trends to make their job easier.
“You have to develop yourselves and put what you have learnt into practise. You are needed in the community for marital counselling and premarital counselling. The expectations of individuals going into marriages are high and when they come back disappointed, the seed of marital discord is being sown already.
“It is our job to reduce the effect of divorce and broken homes. This will eventually reduce the effect on the children,” she said.
Sulaimon urged the students to go into the world and increase their efforts in marital and premarital counselling.
Special guest at the event, Ustadh Jami’ Tirmidhi stressed the importance of putting acquired knowledge into practise.
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He said: “People need counselling. About 40 per cent of pupils in secondary schools are from broken homes. The knowledge you learnt, you must rationalise it.
“There are many cases to deal with; incompatibility, family planning, infertility and others are issues you will meet. Patience is key and we must relate well with clients.”
A graduating student, Habeebah Ibrahim, a civil servant with Lagos State, hailed the training.
She said: “I will tell people to watch out for us. For me … I have it in mind to create a counselling hub…
“With the advent of the digital age, people want to chat, express themselves and what is on their minds, but are afraid that whoever they meet will ignore them or blow their cover. I intend to build a virtual counselling hub where they don’t have to see the person they are talking to. Necessary counselling measures and precautions will be given to them as at when due. So I think you should look out for that”.
Another graduating student, Lawal Nurudeen, having undergone training in the rudiments of marriage counselling, marital conflict as well as benefits of settling disputes, advised the public not to remain silent about their problems.
He said: “My advice to people is ‘Don’t seal up’. From the training, I’ve learnt that the only way to enjoy and not to endure marriage is to speak out. Seek help from the counsellor. The marriage is for a balanced community. Meet counsellors, share your thoughts and feelings and let them guide you”.
An alumna of the institute, Muslimat Apampa, said: “Do not stop, but keep learning. There is a dearth of well-trained counsellors. This is a responsibility and trust on us. Try to read, go for courses, seminars and lectures. It’s a full-time task. Muslims are going through a lot of trauma. Remember, counselling is more preventive than curative”.
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