Volunteer experts help people confronting family crises
The association is established with a training session on Saturday.
A volunteer team comprising psychological consultants, social workers and suicide crisis intervention and rescue experts has been established to save those contemplating suicide due to marriage and family problems.
The first training was conducted on Saturday, the International Day of Families.
The team, under the China Volunteers Association, has 109 volunteers who attended the first training class in Changning District on Saturday.
They will focus on people confronting family crises and needing help due to domestic violence and other problems.
The goal is to prevent the occurrence of suicide in families, and provide intervention in advance to those who are trapped in relationships and suffer from depression via emotional counseling and mediation, said Liu Hongchen, deputy secretary general of the China Volunteers Association.
Volunteers take an oath on Saturday.
Extramarital affairs, family relationship contradictions and disputes over children such as their education were the top three factors behind unhappy marriages, Shanghai-based Weiqing Group, a marriage counseling service provider, said on Saturday, based on 17,000 marriage counseling cases.
A number of senior marriage counselors from the group are volunteers.
Extramarital affairs accounted for 76 percent of problems, followed by contradictions with spouses' parents (18 percent).
Contradictions due to children's education, relationships and psychological problems have grown rapidly in recent years and sometimes led to divorce, said Ming Li, the top marriage counselor with the group.
Financial burdens and health problems were also mentioned.
"Solutions and efforts from professionals as well as psychological counseling and emotional repair helps desperate people regain confidence and hope to face marriage problems, considering their future life in a rational way," said Shu Xin, head of the team.
The volunteer team will provide services nationwide.
"It is not an easy job because those at risk who have been dissuaded from suicide may contemplate suicide again," said Song Xiaoxia, one of the volunteers. " Cooperation from their family is also needed.
Before service, each volunteer receives professional training, and practices under various emergency situations.
