Due to the current situation, the Don Bosco Confederation has seen the need to offer the volunteers of Salesian youth centers a training space in which to work on emotional management. Around 40 young people have participated in these training sessions held online on Saturdays 17 and 24 April within the training plan «Webinars for happy youth.»
The covid-19 pandemic has brought great changes for all people and has had a great impact on our emotions. In this sense, we do not always have the right tools to manage these emotions and from the Don Bosco Confederation «we believe that it is very important to take care of our interior to be able to give the best to the exterior», explains David Arduengo, project coordinator of the entity. In addition to tools to educate emotional intelligence, it has also been important to work on motivation in relation to our pastoral action with the children and young people affected during these difficult times.
Experts point out that the next pandemic will be that of mental health. «Anticipating this, and with the spirit of the preventive system, we intend to begin to give basic notions for emotional management and that these revert both in the federations, as in the Youth Centers and in their recipients» he introduced at the beginning of the meeting Begoña Ros, member of the Board of Directors of the Don Bosco Confederation. «From the idea of the importance of improving one’s own emotional management in order to then be able to help others,» added Alejandro Rojas, vice president of the organization.
The first webinar, held on April 17 under the title “Educating in Emotional Intelligence”, was given by Miguel Ángel Olivares, a Salesian who has been accompanying youth centers for 30 years and who currently works at the Valora Social Platform in Parla (Madrid). Miguel Ángel is also part of the Magone team, a program based on psychological support for minors. The training focused on emotional self-regulation, interiority and the identification of experiences from a positive approach.
The second, «The curve of change and emotional self-knowledge», took place on Saturday April 24 with Elena Fernández, Doctor in Psychology at the Complutense University of Madrid UCM) and specialist in coaching of high performance teams. Participants learned about new emotional management techniques and emotional self-awareness and motivation were reinforced.
With these meetings, the Don Bosco Confederation continues to work as a priority to train the volunteers who participate in the programs and projects of the Salesian youth centers. «We defend a prepared and involved volunteer that can successfully meet the educational and social objectives that we propose in all our programs,» concludes Pedro Hernández, national coordinator of youth centers.