Local Community in the Service of the Mental Health of Children and Youth - Example of Petrinja Counselling Centre for Children, Adolescents and Family

In Petrinja, a post-war area of special state concern with an increased number of risk factors and prevalence of psychosocial problems and disorders in children and youth, the Council for the Prevention established the Counselling Centre for Children, Adolescents and Families in the context of the „neutral“ and non-clinical institution of the Public Open University, which offers ideal accomodations in the city centre. The Counselling Centre offers individual, group, partner-marital and family counselling and psychological treatment, psychological testing and psychosocial treatment for juvenile offenders and provides immediate psychological help and care for children, young people and adults (from the paediatric to geriatric population). Besides treatment interventions, another important area of work is providing prevention and education activities through different programmes: „School of Health“, „School of Non-violence“ and „School of Non-dependence“. The Counselling Centre also organizes lectures, educational programmes and round tables with experts, and intensively works on raising awareness and educating the public on issues of mental health of children and youth. The Counselling Centre in Petrinja employs only one psychologist, which shows that a small and socio-economically deprived area can run high-quality and innovative programmes to improve the quality of life and mental health of children and youth.