Visiting Vellore - Christian Counselling Centre
One
place that I found to be of great interest was the Christian Counselling
Centre. This is not run by the Church of South India, but there are very strong
links, particularly with the Diocese of Vellore, where it is situated. When we
arrived, we were met by the Director, Dr B J Prashantham, who gave us a tour of
the complex and told us of its history and current practice. The main house was
originally built by the East India Company as a factory and so is spacious and
solid. The Centre hosts a wide variety of students from across India and beyond
and Dr Prashantham told us something of the different ways in which those who
come to the Centre are enabled to consider the theories of counselling in
different contexts and with different needs and to engage in its practice. The importance
of the placement and its part in understanding how counselling can make a
difference is key. Dr Prashantham also talked of the students having three laboratories,
the lab of the classroom, the lab of the practical (placement), and the lab of
their engagement with each other. He himself has served the Centre for a long
time, having originally been appointed by Bishop Lesslie Newbigin, when Bishop
of Madras. Trained in counselling in a “western” context, he spoke of the need
to be culturally appropriate. The paradigm needed to be shifted from, ‘I think,
therefore I am’, to the far more appropriate, ‘I belong, therefore I am’. Founded
in 1970, the Centre continues to do important work offering careful leadership
in the field of counselling. I was interested that their publicity leaflet
quoted my former New Testament teacher from my days in Glasgow, Professor William
Barclay – “Even when we are in the mud, we are haunted by the stars.” One
interesting room had the walls covered by the evaluations of courses offered by
participants – they are encouraged to draw a picture by way of evaluation. There
were some fascinating illustrations as participants engaged in the challenge of
presenting growth through their course pictorially.
One
place that I found to be of great interest was the Christian Counselling
Centre. This is not run by the Church of South India, but there are very strong
links, particularly with the Diocese of Vellore, where it is situated. When we
arrived, we were met by the Director, Dr B J Prashantham, who gave us a tour of
the complex and told us of its history and current practice. The main house was
originally built by the East India Company as a factory and so is spacious and
solid. The Centre hosts a wide variety of students from across India and beyond
and Dr Prashantham told us something of the different ways in which those who
come to the Centre are enabled to consider the theories of counselling in
different contexts and with different needs and to engage in its practice. The importance
of the placement and its part in understanding how counselling can make a
difference is key. Dr Prashantham also talked of the students having three laboratories,
the lab of the classroom, the lab of the practical (placement), and the lab of
their engagement with each other. He himself has served the Centre for a long
time, having originally been appointed by Bishop Lesslie Newbigin, when Bishop
of Madras. Trained in counselling in a “western” context, he spoke of the need
to be culturally appropriate. The paradigm needed to be shifted from, ‘I think,
therefore I am’, to the far more appropriate, ‘I belong, therefore I am’. Founded
in 1970, the Centre continues to do important work offering careful leadership
in the field of counselling. I was interested that their publicity leaflet
quoted my former New Testament teacher from my days in Glasgow, Professor William
Barclay – “Even when we are in the mud, we are haunted by the stars.” One
interesting room had the walls covered by the evaluations of courses offered by
participants – they are encouraged to draw a picture by way of evaluation. There
were some fascinating illustrations as participants engaged in the challenge of
presenting growth through their course pictorially.
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