Shout a Question to a Psychologist

NAME OF THE ORGANISATION

„Jaunimas YRÀ“ (Youth IS)

NAME OF THE INITIATIVE

“Shout a Question to a Psychologist”

What is this initiative about?

“Jaunimas YRA” (“Youth IS”) initiative “Shout a Question to a Psychologist” was based on a conversation between two people, which was streamed live on their Facebook page. The initiative included 5 such events – conversations between a more well-known person who is interested in the topic and a psychologist.

ENGLISH

LITHUANIAN

Topics that were interesting for young people were discussed:

How does therapy work and what is the psychologist’s job?
What after 12?
Who understands me?
Sex life
How to keep my self-esteem?

Viewers could anonymously ask questions of the psychologist and at least thus engage in the conversation, albeit remotely, and get answers to questions of concern and often sensitivity. The recordings have been preserved and are also available as podcasts on the Spotify platform.

We invite you to listen (and watch)!

When and how did this initiative start?

During the pandemic and even before it, mental health and emotional health were national issues.

The organisation’s representatives noticed volatility among people in their community.

So in the autumn of 2020, they conceived this initiative to improve the situation.

The state of youth and mental health was important to them. They were also surprised by the stigma that exists in many places that if you go to a psychologist, you are sick.

Due to that, they created the “Shout a Question to a Psychologist”’ initiative.

What prompted the initiative?

The “Shout a Question to a Psychologist” initiative wanted to break the stereotype of the psychological profession and help young people’s emotional well-being during a pandemic.

What is the target group? How are they reached?

Their target group was school-age children.

This initiative did not focus on one social group, as in other projects, but they wanted to have as wide an audience as possible because the topics are also relevant to the majority.

How did the pandemic affect the initiative?

The pandemic made people demotivated and withdrawn. The rapid changes have particularly affected pupils’ social skills and, as a result, their emotional health. These and the factors mentioned above have led to the event “Shout a Question to a Psychologist”.

How did the pandemic affect you personally?

For “Jaunimas YRÀ” (“Youth IS”) volunteers personally, the pandemic has given them time to reflect and find new perspectives.

How did the pandemic affect the organization?

“Jaunimas YRÀ” sometimes worked online before the pandemic, but the product was always alive for the public, so during the pandemic, we had to find new approaches to reach young people.

This was not easy, as there was a noticeable decrease in the engagement of young people within the organisation itself.

Young people were struggling to recover motivationally. They are used to spending time alone or with their families, so the quarantine also affected their social skills.

What are the difficulties faced in implementing the initiative?

The initial challenge before the first event was the live streaming because the organisers had never done it before, so it was a challenge not only to do it, but to do it qualitatively, and technically correct.

There was also the question of whether it would be possible to negotiate with the speakers to do the interview sessions for free because this initiative had no funding.

It was just human organisational stuff like that that posed some challenges.

Positive results

It was surprising that this initiative “Shout a Question to a Psychologist” reached so many people. Viewership exceeded the expectations of the initiators, with more than 1000 people watching the live stream.

Why is this initiative relevant?

The pandemic has caused a lot of anxiety, stress and change for young people, and “Jaunimas YRA” believes that it has created an initiative that has at least gone some way to helping young people during this stressful time.

Continuity of the initiative

As mentioned above, the initiative had not 1 but 5 events on different themes. They saw that people were interested, engaged and involved, so the format of the online events that were tested during these events became a part of the organisation and has continued to this day.

We asked a representative of the initiative:

How can young people help each other during the COVID-19 pandemic?

different people as much as possible. Don’t divide people into groups – everyone is equal. Now it’s very important not to communicate superficially, but to be able to connect and stay connected.

Organisation

“Jaunimas YRA” was established in Marijampolė in 2013. This NGO works on a wide range of issues, from active participation in youth policy and decision-making to increase youth employment in the city.

It also encourages people who have left Marijampolė and are studying elsewhere to come back to their hometown at least on weekends and continue to build up their youth. It is the majority of the volunteers of “Jaunimas YRÀ” are students.

The aim of the organisation’s creation is to create more activities for young people aged 22-29 years old. “Jaunimas YRÀ” has no employees and maintains the true principle of volunteering – financially unpaid work for the benefit of society.