The City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) is seeking an accredited family therapist to serve in Puerto Princesa City.
During the Amos Taren Facebook program of the City Tourism Office, CSWDO Lydia Del Rosario said they need a family therapist to conduct proper counseling to maintain healthy relations among families.
The family therapist’s main goal is to identify and address problems that could be emotional, psychological, or behavioral in nature.
Del Rosario said that the lack of therapists is a challenge to their office’s ability to address the numerous family conflict cases in the city.
According to the 2018 Gender and Development Report of Puerto Princesa City, there are more than 20,000 families belonging to households with an income below the food threshold due to low access to social services, resulting in insufficient effective parenting knowledge.
Data also showed that many children are being abused by their parents, and broken marriages result in dysfunctional families and children in conflict with the law.
“Mayroon tayong counseling for families, pero wala tayong therapist, but we are trying our best, nire-refer din natin ‘yan sa mga experts. Sa dami naming cases, family conflict, family problems, I think we need therapist,” she said.
Del Rosario said that there is a visiting psychiatrist in the city but not a family therapist.
“Sana magkaroon tayo ng visiting family therapist dito sa Puerto, mayroon tayo pero visiting psychiatrist wherein kailangan na kailangan natin talaga ang family therapist kasi ‘yon ang nakikita natin na kailangan talaga dito. Kaya kung nakikinig ang mga accredited family therapist sana ay ibahagi ninyo ang serbisyo ninyo dito sa Puerto Princesa City,” Del Rosario said.
Del Rosario, however, did not go into detail on the numbers and types of family conflicts in the city.
Solving family conflicts is one of the 24 programs and services of the CSWDO.