February 24, 2012

Dream Mentoring Program Featured in the Deccan Herald

Dr. David Pearson and Dr. Fiona Kennedy were featured in an article by Sonali Bhatia in the Deccan Herald this week.



To help find a solution to a problem, we start by banning solutions!” says Dr Fiona Kennedy, as she talks to us about Dream-A-Dream’s Mentoring Program.

The Dream Mentoring Program pairs a volunteer adult mentor with an adolescent from a disadvantaged community.  “Providing instant solutions is not a viable, long term answer for the mentee. Instead, mentors are encouraged to help their mentees find solutions within themselves,” elaborates Dr David Pearson, clinical psychologist in the UK. “This is a carefully-structured process, requiring some training,” he adds.

Dr Kennedy and Dr Pearson are both clinical psychologists in the UK. They have been visiting India for ten weeks a year, for the last six years, to develop and conduct Dream-A-Dream’s Mentor Training Program. The programme is specially designed with Indian culture and conditions in mind, and has so far benefitted 250 pairs of mentors and mentees.
The article takes an extensive look at the need for mentoring,the approach to mentoring at Dream A Dream , the need for training for volunteer mentors and some of the key concepts covered during the training.

“Listen, listen, listen. Then listen some more,” says Dr Kennedy. “Adolescents haven’t had the experience of an adult actually listening to what they have to say. Just knowing that they are important enough to be noticed and heard goes a long way in helping them solve their problems.”
To read further, visit the following link
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/229267/adult-guidance-adolescents.html
 

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