Managing Mental Health Stress: US-based Cameroonian Therapist To Launch Foundation In July

The alarming number of Cameroonians addicted to excessive drug and alcohol abuse with worsening health situations will greatly reduce in the months ahead with the announced launching of a foundation to fight the societal ill.

US-based Cameroonian Therapist/Counselor, Therese Shalo-Fuh, lecturing youth on dangers of drug, alcohol abuse during a sojourn to Cameroon

The initiative dubbed “Be The Exception Counseling Foundation” will officially launched July 2021. It is the brainchild of US-based Cameroonian Therapist/Counselor, Therese Shalo-Fuh. Its sole goal is to curb the social ill which accounts for rising acts of campus violence in particular and communities as a whole.

The NGO with pending 501©3 status in the USA and registered in Cameroon will not only fight drug and alcohol abuse that has caused uncountable loss of lives but to also reach out and touch the lives of underprivileged kids through authentic orphanages and give them life-skills help them navigate their daily challenges.

Shalo-Fuh, a specialist in substance use disorders, behavioral health, and mental health with over a decade experience disclosed that addiction and mental health/trauma issues are classified as the disease of the brain, proven to be chronic and fatal consequences that can however be rectified if confronted accordingly and properly.

"I believe everybody is unique in his or her own way, and that, it is wrong to judge people. We all have something to give despite our past. We let go of our past issues and find closure, so that they do not dictate our present and future," said the owner of private practice opened since 2016.

“Substance Use Disorders and Mental Health Disorders have increased student violence and aggression in schools. It continues to get worse, rampant, and the situation dire; our communities and children are being lost to drugs, alcohol and undiagnosed or misunderstood mental health issues and addictive behaviors, unresolved trauma, mental health issues such as Anxiety, Depression, PTSD, Schizo-affective disorders, Suicidal Ideation or Behaviors, etc., and senseless deaths in schools,” she revealed.

She noted that she was spurred to create the foundation after acquiring knowledge in the USA in the field and following a volunteer trip she did in the country in 2016 to train youngsters on the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse with a strong and deep yearning to give back to her country and contribute to find solutions to the dire situation she grew up seeing in 1980s to the early 2000s.

“…providing free counseling services and workshops for youths suffering from substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health issues, exposed me to the increased prevalence of substance misuse in children between the ages of 10 and 28 using illicit drugs; mostly because of the illegal importation of drugs into the country, such as heroin, cocaine, lsd, tramadol, tramol, MDMA, and shisha (hookah),” disclosed the owner of private practice opened since 2016.

The Masters Degree holder in Health Services Management and current Ph.D. fellow in Counseling and Psychology Studies with a Specialty in Addictions Counseling said: “deadly alcohol mixes are being locally produced and sold as well as imported liquor that has increasingly caused a compulsive and continuous use despite negative consequences within the Cameroonian communities”.

She equally used her research sojourn in Cameroon to provide family sessions to some 30 children and 20 underprivileged families, especially parents whose children misuse illicit substances, and do not have a clue on how to manage the ravaging disease. Beneficiaries were handed certificates of completion to further encourage and empower them especially as most of the families could not afford services relating to substance misuse, mental health, or anger management.

Therese Shalo-Fuh visits an orphanage in the South West region to give hope to the underprivileged

“We plan to provide individual, family and group counseling sessions; run 12 step groups; provide meditation instruction, identify triggers, and teach coping strategies/skills; provide anger management services, tackle student violence and aggression, identify and treat co-occurring disorders, and addictive behaviors; and provide substance use and mental health counseling for the Cameroonian youths and the general population as well,” she disclosed.

The NGO which relies on your kind donations to provide free, qualitative treatment to the underprivileged and low-income families in Cameroon has so far assisted orphanages including: Great Faith Orphanage and Empowerment Center, Boana village, Limbe; God First Orphanage, Mile 4, Limbe; Rhema Grace Orphanage, Ombe, via cash, food products, clothing, books, toys, hygiene, and sanitary products with plans to do more and extend the scope across the region.