YourDOST Provides Helpline to Support 100,000 College Students
New Delhi: YourDOST (www.yourdost.com), a leading online counselling and emotional wellness services platform has been providing emotional support to over 1 lakh college students in Haryana on an ongoing basis to assist them in handling their stress & anxiety. YourDOST has conducted 1,000 online emotional counselling sessions since the launch of the initiative in April 2020 to help students better deal with stress and other challenges related to their future. The Bengaluru based startup in collaboration with the Department of Higher Education, Government of Haryana, is providing this unique and much needed service to the college students who need personal attention or counselling to positively deal with challenges of the current times and beyond.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, students have also emerged as one of the most vulnerable sections of society who have been under tremendous pressure. They are concerned about their education, jobs, and career opportunities as these have been adversely affected by the extended lockdown and there’s very little clarity on the road ahead. Adding to this emotional turbulence is the isolation of social distancing to stay safe. Through the YourDOST helpline (1800 313 2023) they can speak to experts about their personal challenges. These experts help them navigate through their feelings & emotions and in the process better deal with the situation.
Elaborating on the emotional counselling programme for college students in Haryana, Ms. Richa Singh, Co-Founder, and Chief Executive Officer, YourDOST, said, “We launched this initiative in April 2020 in partnership with Haryana Government’s Department of Higher Education. The toll-free helpline for the 1,00,000 college students works on a 24×7 basis. So far, we have conducted over 1,000 sessions with students to motivate them by offering expert guidance. While conducting these sessions, we have identified three major issues that have been particularly upsetting for students during the lockdown. They include, worry about their families running out of ration, worry about their exams, job opportunities, and career choices, and finally, difficulty in adapting to online classes, a new trend that has emerged during the lockdown”.
As part of this continuous and free emotional wellness counselling program, YourDOST has enabled and empowered the students to access experts who’re Psychologists, Counselors and Career Coaches, to explain their problems and get the right direction on a real-time basis. The helpline is available in Hindi and English to make them feel comfortable enough with the coach or expert to open up about their feelings and to find the best solutions possible.
By availing counselling sessions with YourDOST’s experts, students studying in degree or equivalent programs in the state of Haryana have been exploring new approaches for their education, and developing a more positive mindset towards career, family, and society.
YourDOST provides online counselling and emotional wellness services to its users. It has more than 900 experts consisting of Psychologists, Psychotherapists, Counselors, Life Coaches, and Career Coaches available through the platform. These experts guide users to overcome their emotional challenges through confidential individual sessions. Since its inception in 2015, YourDOST has so far completed over 25 lakh sessions and created a record in the emotional wellness services segment in the country. Students are not only availing online emotional counselling services but also opening up by sharing their wonderful experiences of the sessions to encourage their fellow students to benefit from the programme too, which is offered completely free of cost.
What beneficiaries say:
Mr. Prabhan Hisar, one of the students from Haryana who availed YourDOST’s online counselling services said, “I want to rate this helpline service very positively. It is very useful in these times and it is useful for all those who need support. I would like to thank YourDOST wholeheartedly”.
Sharing his experience with the counselling services, Mr. Ankit Makkar, Rohtak, said, “I was feeling very fearful and demotivated due to this whole lockdown situation. I was particularly worried about my studies and my career. The Expert I spoke with guided me so well. I am feeling much better now. I really want to thank YourDOST for the support is provided”.
About YourDOST:
Headquartered in Bengaluru, YourDOST is a leading start-up company that provides mental wellness services through an innovative technology platform. It provides an online counseling and emotional support platform designed to foster mental wellness. It anonymously connects the people with the right expert consisting of Psychologists, Psychotherapists, Counselors, Life Coaches, Career Guides and People with rich and deep life experience, who understand and analyze the real problems and guide them through completely confidential individual sessions. Founded by Mr. Puneet Manuja, an IIM- Bangalore alumnus and Ms. Richa Singh, an IIT-Guwahati alumna in 2015, YourDOST has so far impacted over 2 million lives in India.