PSYCHOLOGISTS FROM THE CITIZEN COUNCIL OFFER OVER 37 THOUSAND HOURS OF EMOTIONAL AID WORK

The Safety Line and Trustworthy Chat offer 30,614 hours of support while the Recovery Centers offer 6,500 hours, according to the President Counselor, Salvador Guerrero.

The 110 psychologists of the Citizen Council for Safety and Justice in Mexico City have offered over 37 thousand hours of direct emotional aid in the past 15 months.

The organism informed that between March 2020 –when the sanitary contingency due to the COVID-19 pandemic began– and May 2021, they have offered nearly 46 thousand attentions throughout the country through the Safety Line and Trustworthy Chat and over 800 in-person and virtual therapies through its Emotional Recovery Centers.

In the wake of Psychologists Day in Mexico, the Council informed that the Line and Chat added 30 thousand 614 hours and the Centers added 6,500 more hours. The sum of both is equivalent to 20 thousand 409 soccer matches lasting 90 minutes each.

“Before the pandemic, the Citizen Council reinforced the promotion of emotional aid they offer through a long distance model of the work team that offers psychological first aid services, allowing to help citizens 24/7,” said Salvador Guerrero Chipres, President of the institution.

Data reveals that on March 2021 there has been an increase of 262.6% of attentions given through the Line and Chat in comparison with the same month in 2020, when the sanitary contingency due to COVID-19 began.

During the months previous to the pandemic, attentions offered through the same channels added up an average of 880 cases per month. Once the contingency began, there was a constant increase and the months with the greatest number of requests have been March and April 2021 with 4 thousand 288 and 3 thousand 535, respectively.

“We’re conscious of the population’s mental health and emotional needs before the so-called pandemic fatigue so we established strategic alliances to promote their free services through companies such as Facebook, TikTok and Netflix, which allowed us to offer this service to a greater number of people, particularly children and teenagers from all around the country and even Latin America,” Guerrero Chipres added.

Also, the Council has agreements with institutions such as the General Attorney’s Office in Mexico City and the national DIF systems in order to channel those cases that require so.

Out of the total number of supports offered through the Safety Line and Trustworthy Chat, 13% were due to relationship problems, 9% for family problems, the same percentage for anxiety and 8% for pandemic fatigue. Two out of every three people who asked for support were women.

Around 45% of those who asked for psychological aid are between 12 and 25 years of age and they did it through the Trustworthy Chat.

The Citizen Council offers free emotional support 24/7 to anyone around the country and abroad through the Safety Line and Trustworthy Chat 55 5533 5533.