On the afternoon of March 3, 2022, the second seminar of the seminar series on mental health and global citizenship development organized by the Center for International Education, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU-HCM ended with valuable insights from Dr. Le Thi Mai Lien - Department of Counseling and Therapy, Faculty of Psychology with the participation of more than 120 students from 7 classes of four international joint programs.
Dr. Le Thi Mai Lien, Department of Counseling and Therapy, Faculty of Psychology - USSH
The online seminar series conducted via Google Meet consists of two sessions: "Exploring Mental Health, Finding Oneself, and the Values of Global Citizenship" held on the afternoon of February 24, 2022, and "Skills to Cope with Stress and Studying and Living Abroad" on the afternoon of March 3, 2022.
Online seminar
In the first seminar, Dr. Mai Lien presented about the importance of mental health and invited students to take psychological tests to help students discover themselves (emotional regulation, mental resilience, and common difficulties in students' lives such as fear of not having a phone and procrastination). The lecturer emphasized that having good mental health means not having mental illness or mental disorders. Especially, you must feel comfortable, have self-control and confidence in yourself, be able to recognize your capacity to achieve the best development, and have a balance between life activities. Maintaining your physical and mental health is key to developing yourself as a global citizen in all three aspects of global knowledge, global skills, and global employment. In addition, students need to identify their psychological characteristics and orient the values needed in the integration process of a global citizen such as friendliness and confidence, adaptability and flexibility, curiosity and love for exploration, willingness to experience, embracing challenges, equality, empowerment, partiality, freedom, take action/acting, contribution to the community and the world.
The second seminar is about "Skills to Cope with Stress and Crisis in Studying and Living Abroad". It focused on sharing the stages of culture shock while studying and living in your home country/abroad and practicing case analysis with students. When studying abroad, students need to pay attention to many types/signs of culture shock such as language, weather, climate, cuisine, ideology, etc. The preparation of language as a living language, that is, the emphasis on the use of language in life, as well as learning the culture is essential to avoid culture shock. In addition, studying abroad means students have to face many stresses in studying and environmental challenges (being away from home, relatives, and friends, experiencing loneliness, financial pressure, etc.), so effectively coping with stress and adapting is the key to successfully integrate and study abroad. The lecturer shared with students 4 strategies (cognitive, physical, sensory, emotional) to cope with stress and emphasized the connection between mental and physical health “It is impossible to have good mental health in a weak body”, good mental health care will also increase learning efficiency.
Dr. Mai Lien shared: “Having studied abroad for 6 years for a master's degree in France and a doctorate in Belgium, I am always grateful for the multicultural and multilingual experiences I have had along with the people, teachers, and friends that I am always proud of; I am also grateful for the challenges I have overcome, so that I witness myself growing up and understand my abilities and mission in life. I hope that students will always have the courage to overcome their fears and safety zones to reach the learning and growth areas, so that wherever they are, they can develop themselves and integrate."
The content of the seminar
Phuong Uyen – a second year student majoring in International Relations - shared: "Ms. Mai Lien's presentation through this seminar gave me time to reflect and realize a lot of psychological problems not only I have faced but also the majority of students during online learning due to social distancing. I realized that it is important to recognize mental health issues such as stress, anxiety, or signs of depression because mental health is the foundation for effective learning and working. Through two seminars with Ms. Lien, I believe that I am well aware of the origin, signs, as well as how to overcome the mentioned health problems. Besides, along with her diverse and profound experiences, she has helped me correctly oriented my mindset in terms of attitude and how to solve cultural difference-related issues when working in multicultural environments in the future and prepare to become a global citizen."
Phuong Uyen – Second year student majoring in International Relations in association with Deakin University, Australia
Kha Le - a freshman majoring in Chinese Language – sent her sincere thanks to the lecturer and CIE: “After participating in two seminars of Ms. Mai Lien, first, feel very grateful to have learned a lot of interesting things through Ms. Mai Lien's presentation. From regulating your emotions to coping skills in studying and living abroad. Thanks to her presentation, I found my mood lighter, I have a better understanding of my body, and I know what I want to do and what to improve. In addition, I am also aware that mental health is a very important thing that we need to take care of and pay attention to. I am very grateful to CIE for organizing this seminar, and thank you Ms. Mai Lien."
Kha Le - Freshman majoring in Chinese Language in association with Guangxi Normal University, China
With a special study program of 2 years at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU-HCM, and 2 years at a partner university abroad, CIE's international joint students have access to practical and high-quality study programs and can attend useful extracurricular seminars to confidently integrate into the international academic environment. The seminars series on mental health and global citizenship development will continue to be held with quality exchanges and lectures.
