INITIATE.MY’s Self-Care and Well-Being Session

Kuala Lumpur, 30 April 2025 – INITIATE.MY organised a Self-Care and Well-Being Session facilitated by a clinical psychologist Dr. Vizla Kumaresan as part of the organisation’s ongoing commitment to its team’s mental health and well-being with a backdrop of challenging advocacy and research environments.

Dr. Vizla guided participants through discussions and exercises on managing stress and burnout, achieving work-life balance, setting personal boundaries, and using coping strategies for anxiety and depression. She also introduced self-care practices and mindfulness techniques. Participants gained practical tools to strengthen emotional resilience and manage the pressures of their advocacy and research work more sustainably. INITIATE.MY also provided mental health guides, videos, and mindfulness tools to support participants beyond the session.

Dr. Vizla addressed the often-overlooked psychological toll of working on emotionally intense topics. She explained how such work can trigger physical and emotional reactions and offered healthy ways to respond. She also covered how to engage with distressing data, navigate sensitive topics, involve men in mental health conversations, and maintain well-being while confronting personal biases—especially when researching far-right 

This session marked a major step forward in normalising mental health conversations within the organisation. It reinforced the organisation’s commitment to creating psychologically safe workspaces as part of its 2025 professional development roadmap.

INITIATE.MY team came together to prioritise mental health and self-care.