~Conference on Mental Health and Counseling, Taiwan~
15-18 October 1998
The Federation’s 50th Anniversary was also celebrated -during a typhoon – at the 1998 Global Conference on Mental Health and Counselingheld on 15-18 October in Taipei, Taiwan. Approximately 500 people from15 countries attended the conference, which was jointly organized by theChinese Guidance Association in Taiwan (celebrating its 40th Anniversary) and theMental Health Association in Taiwan. Dr. Chueh Chang, WFMH VicePresident for the Western Pacific Region, was a co-chair of the conference. Thetheme was “Approaching Tranquillity of Mind and Spirit: Media, MentalHealth, and Counseling.”
The conference symbol was an intricately woven, brightlycolored oriental knot of silk thread, and unwinding the knot was seen as a symbolof removing a barrier, reducing stress, and getting a Chinese “makema” withpeace, blessing and continuity. These attributes were urgently needed,as the tranquillity of the organizers was challenged when a typhoonapproached the island just as the conference was due to start. They copedadmirably by postponing or cancelling sections of the program planned for thefirst day and rearranging the schedule to cope with speakers whose arrivalwas delayed by the severe weather. Unexpected free time caused by thepostponements was utilized for an impromptu WFMH Western Pacific Regional Meetingattended by representatives from Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Thailand andTaiwan. Chueh Chang wrote later that she and her colleagues were “veryproud of our crisis management during the typhoon,” carried out with calmresoucefulness “in a mentally healthy way.”
Given the dramatic circumstances produced by the storm, theconference went relatively smoothly. There was a rich program of seminars,concurrent sessions, and workshops on topics including community mentalhealth, counseling, human rights, religion, and various topicsconcerning the media, cultural trends, and mass psychology. The languages used wereMandarin Chinese and English.
WFMH President Marten deVries and Immediate Past PresidentBeverly Long both reached Taipei before the typhoon and unexpectedly had aday free to discuss Federation business when the opening of the conferencewas delayed. Nancy Wallace, the Federation’s Main Representative at UN NewYork, was less fortunate. Her flight from the United States was unable to landat Taipei and continued to Tokyo, where passengers were stranded for threedays before flying back to Taiwan. She eventually reached the conference togive her presentation, but spent only twenty-four hours on the islandbefore returning to the United States and then continuing to London forthe symposium there.
Dr. Chueh Chang
Taipei, Taiwan, ROC