It is crucial to determine the challenges associated with mental health and address them through a strong foundation of ‘education’ backed by awareness. Precisely, this is the aim of the department of Psychology, Kristu Jayanti College.
The mission of Kristu Jayanti College is to provide educational opportunities to all aspiring youth to excel in life by nurturing academic excellence, fostering values, creating civic responsibility, inculcating environmental concern, and building global competencies in a dynamic environment.
The vision of the college is to provide intellectual and moral leadership by igniting the minds of youth to realise their potential and make positive contributions leading to the prosperity of society and the nation at large.
The principal, the Rev. Fr. Dr Augustine George, has been instrumental in making the institution grow in technology and infrastructure. Through the exceptional leadership of its beloved Principal, Father, the college could attain the highest grade of A++ in the third cycle of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).
Principal Father’s tireless effort led to developing the college’s own Learning Management Solution (LMS). Under his effective leadership, the college has attained many accolades and awards, including the Gold-rated Green Certificate by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). The college has been recognised as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 1 (UN SDG1) Hub to ensure inclusivity, women empowerment, communal harmony, and multi-culturalism on campus. The institution becomes more eco-friendly by establishing Sewage Treatment Plant, setting up a Vermicompost unit, rainwater harvesting tanks (49 Lakh litres capacity), and creating a pedestrian-friendly pathway to restrict the entry of vehicles. These were some of the great achievements under Principal Rev. Fr. Dr. Augustine George.
Kristu Jayanti College (Autonomous), Bangalore, has had a glorious journey for the past 23 years. Each year, the college has expanded its roots to further prominence, the latest achievement being the NAAC reaccreditation of A++ with a CGPA of 3.78 out of 4, the highest in the state of Karnataka for an affiliated autonomous college.
With the objective of imparting advanced knowledge and professional skills, the college provides graduate and post-graduate courses in the domain of Psychology, concentrating on professional skill development through innovative pedagogical methods.
Shaping Developmental Skills
“To inculcate and promote knowledge, skills, values, and attitude, the psychology department offers many unique courses to facilitate professional and personal skills,” states Dr. George. “Concurrent supervised fieldwork is one such course where two days a week, MSc Final year students get the opportunity for experiential learning and can enhance their skills by interacting with the community, student populations, and people with differential needs”, Mr Vigraanth Bapu, PG Programme Coordinator.
Providing Experiential Learnings
Internship programs help the students develop workplace competencies by involving in tasks like assessment and exploring clinical/organisational issues and interventions. “Department focuses on skill development through clinical skills, counselling techniques, and human resource management-intensive practical training, which will equip them to apply their knowledge in their respective fields”, Dr Molly Joy, Head of the department of Psychology.
The introduction of skill-based courses across the MSc Counselling Psychology and MSc Clinical Psychology, such as Individual Counselling Skills, Group Counselling Skills, Clinical Training, and Skills for Clinical Practice, gives students the necessary skills to connect better with clients. These courses cover skills such as collecting Case History, Mental Status Examination, Micro and Macro Skills, and Group creation and maintenance.
Out-of-the-box Learning Activities
The Psychology department brings out a series of programs every year for the students to nourish their professional and personal growth. World mental health week was observed by involving students in various college, national and global activities. Similarly, a cluster of programs like theatre performances to create mental health awareness, observance of adolescent health week, and suicide prevention day was held to develop professional aptitude. “By providing intensive training for students in psychotherapeutics and alternative healing practices to ensure personal health and well-being, acquired skills can be imparted in the fieldwork settings. The Exposure the students receives as part of the curriculum aids them to support wellbeing in the society by nurturing growth in a positive way”, Dr Sruthi Sivaraman, UG Programme Coordinator. Weekly Research colloquiums for all the post-graduate students will inculcate research temperament and attitude in students.
Breaking the societal barriers, Department of Psychology of Kristu Jayanti College, is addressing issues and bringing out a series of programs for its students to nourish their professional growth.
In order to learn how the college is working to lay a foundation for the future of mental healthcare by providing various courses, kindly delve into its story.
The Inception Tale
Kristu Jayanti College (Autonomous) had a very humble beginning in 1999 with nine students and currently caters to 10000 students. The psychology department was established in 2002, and the first undergraduate programme in Psychology (Bachelor of Arts Triple Major Programme) was introduced. By 2009, Psychology was a part of 2 BA programme with combination papers. The department started to offer Post Graduate programme in the year 2010, Master of Science (MSc) Psychology programme was the first programme announced under Bangalore University, and the department had bagged the first rank under the Bangalore University. The 2011-2013 batch added more accolades as they acquired the gold medal in Clinical Psychology specialisation and 3rd rank in Industrial Psychology specialisation.
In 2013, Kristu Jayanti College grew into an autonomous college under University Grants Commission (UGC) with existing programmes. Another feather was added to the Post Graduate department in 2018 when the second post-graduate programme MSc Counselling Psychology was initiated. By 2021, the third PG programme MSc Clinical Psychology Programme, was introduced under Bengaluru North University to meet the amassed requirements. In 2022, another section was added to the current batch based on the surge in response to the MSc Clinical Psychology programme. Currently, the Department of Psychology runs 3 MSc Programmes with two sections of MSc Clinical Psychology, 1 MSc Counselling Psychology, and 1 MSc Psychology with cross specialisation and specialisation. The department of psychology offers BA Psychology Single major (2 sections) and Double major programmes (a section for 3 various combination papers). Hence the department of Psychology caters and enables about 1300 students in the given year.
To cater to the needs of the students the holds the expertise of professionals specialised in various areas of psychology like clinical psychology, industrial psychology, counselling psychology, positive psychology, cognitive neuroscience and research methods in psychology.
The Future Roadmap
The core values of the college, the discipline and holistic development that is personified in its learners speak volumes about the greatness of the college. “As Kristu Jayanti College (Autonomous) continues its journey, I hope that we touch more lives, cater to the needs of the marginalised by providing quality education, and include more professional courses in the programmes and infrastructure,” Dr Molly Joy.
Opinion from an Industrial Expert
“I am extremely happy to note that Psychology Department at Kristujayanti College has a professional approach integrating academic knowledge with external benchmarking of current and relevant practices for providing the best in class inputs to students.The entire team including Principal,Head of the Department and all the faculty members of the Department deserve great appreciation for their proactive and sincere approach in carrying out commendable work in empowering students to acquire appropriate knowledge paving the way for a great professional career”- Anandh S. Additional General Manager, Bharat Electronics Limited, Corporate Office, Bangalore
Testionials
“The college had provided me with wonderful opportunities of learning life and experiences of leadership and management that helped me improve my potential. The learning system and the syllabus of the institute are core factors that bind the learning process to be organized and applicable to working environment” – Ms Martina Siby Mathew (alumni)
“My journey in this college has been great so far. The curriculum consists of all the skills required for the outside world. The faculty is friendly and helpful. I feel privileged to study in Kristu Jayanti college.” – Ms Hazel Vakharia, Student of MSc Psychology
