Brief Profile Of Dr. Susan Gitau

• Founder /Spiritual & Mental Health Director – Susan Gitau Counseling Foundation
• Mindful Self-Compassion Trained Teacher (CMSC – USA)
• Lecturer & Chair of Counseling Department at Africa Nazarene University, Kenya
• KCPA Accredited Senior Counselor Supervisor (KCPA/0116/06)
• Chairperson Kiambu County, Central Kenya
• Counseling Psychologist Consultant in Governmental and non-governmental organizations
• Certified National Industrial Training Authority (NITA) trainer on Workplace Mental Health issues
• Best Course Awardee 2023 HUF Counseling Practicum I ( Hadong Global University)

Why The Talk Show?

How would you feel when you get relieved of that pain in your heart? With an experience of 20+ years, Dr. Susan Gitau has realized that when people come from therapy, they are in so much suffering. Fortunately, a lot of changes in their lives stem from the therapy they receive.

They thrive through their agony and later thrive in areas where they are stagnated. For instance, they experience success in their personal, work, and social life. This is the reason Dr. Gitau named the show: Pain to Fruitfulness aka P2F Talk Show.

What Is The State Of Mental Health In Kenya

The Kenyan National Commission of Human Rights estimates that 25% and 40% of outpatients and inpatients consecutively suffer from mental health conditions. The most frequent diagnoses of mental illnesses made in general hospital settings are depression, substance abuse, stress, and anxiety disorders. That’s roughly 50 million people.

Well, 55% of adults with a mental illness have not received any treatment. 5.44% of adults experience severe mental illness. Over 12.1 million adults (4.8%) have reported serious thoughts of suicide.

The Kenya Mental Health Policy (2015–2030) provides a framework that guides mental health reforms in the country with the aim of ensuring that all persons have access to comprehensive, integrated, and high-quality mental health care that is promotive, preventive, curative, and rehabilitative at all levels of healthcare. The policy also highlights vital strategies for mitigating structural challenges and emerging patterns in alleviating mental health problems and disorders. Despite the availability of mental health policies and the country’s focus on addressing the gaps, Kenya has an increasing adolescent and young population with undocumented mental health needs hampering resource allocation and service provision. 

Problem Statement

With this rising number of cases of mental health burden, there is a need to have an economic approach as an intervention. One of the intervention strategies ought to be preventive. Pain to Fruitfulness Show is a mental health intervention approach that seeks to prevent and support individuals, families and communities that face or are facing mental health challenges with relevant knowledge, skills, and values applicable to the mental health and wellness of diverse populations in Kenya and beyond.

Rationale And Justification

The show will utilize economies of large-scale approach where many people will be reached with relevant information on matters of mental health. Expected outcomes include enhanced self-awareness, creating common humanity strength in shared suffering and creating space for recovery, healing, networking, and bouncing back to fruitful living. Every part of the journey of suffering will be explained by the host (s) or invited experts. Testimonies of success stories will be shared in each show.\

Objectives

The show will seek to:

1. Encourage participants’ open sincere sharing of information, personal stories and testimonies of mental health illness, struggles, recovery, and healing.
2. Have open dialogue with psychologists and psychiatrists from time to time on the issues affecting people in matters of mental health.
3. Equip participants with mindfulness and self-compassion skills to cope with difficult emotions arising from their suffering.
4. Create a network of relevant stakeholders in addressing matters of mental health affecting people.
5. Practice self-compassion exercises to enhance daily fruitful living.

Methodology

The show will kick off with an official launch in a public place like a church setting or a hotel accessible to all people. The show will be hosted by Dr Susan Gitau and her assistant counsellors Mrs Jane Wanyoike and Mrs Tina Owino when she is not around. Volunteer counsellors from her foundation will always be available to assist cases in need of one-on-one counselling services.

The show will stick to shaping a mental health recovery and healing pathway from agony to thriving and seek to showcase how the holistic person ought to operate body mind and spirit for optimum performance and daily living.

From time to time, the host will be having case presentations of participants willing to share their journey and/or have presentations on different mental health situations affecting people and how they can move from pain to fruitful life.

The show will be recorded and later posted to relevant social media platforms for those who may not be able to participate in person.

Ethical Considerations

All participants in the show will be required to sign a consent form. The participants will consent formally before sharing and the counselors will listen and guide the participants before signing the consent. Due diligence will be done to avoid FAKE STORIES and cases of participants with overwhelming emotional pain on set.

When Will The Show Be Conducted

Every second Saturday of the month is an online P2F Talk Show

Every second Saturday of the month.

View the launch of the talk show in our events directory.

Platform

YouTube channel (online users)

Zoom meetings.

In-person (venue TBA) every month

Expected Outcome Benefits

• Participants will experience enhanced self-awareness in matters of mental health.
• Enhanced compassion for people with mental health challenges.
• Creating one big mental health champion’s voice to ensure everyone has access to mental health services.
• Creating a zero stigma and discrimination tolerance space for persons struggling and/or living with mental illness
• Bold testimonies will inspire more people to look at mental illness as a disease like any other and learn to share about their challenges too.
• P2F seeks to reach as many people as possible to prevent and offer support to those living with mental health challenges.
• Volunteer counsellors will be present to offer free counselling therapy services during the in-person event.

Challenges

Due to financial challenges, the show will hold a minimum of 100 participants during the launch sponsored event by the Susan Gitau Counseling Foundation.

Future Plans to F2F

To reach out to partners and well-wishers to facilitate more volunteers, speakers, coaches and other mental health specialists on board who can support the pain to Fruitfulness talk show Metal Health project

P2F Motto

Share to Heal

Reach Out To Dr. Susan Gitau

Dr. Susan Gitau (Producer and Director P2F Mental Health Talk Show)

Founder Susan Gitau Counseling Foundation.

Lecturer Africa Nazarene University

X @dr. susan gitau

Face: Susan Gitau Counseling Foundation