The Ministry of Social Security and Labour (MSSL) has found a new way to promote the return of Lithuanian compatriots from emigration, delfi.lt reported on 13 June. On the order of the MSSL, professional psychologists will consult the emigrants on the Internet. It is expected that in this way ”the psychological health of Lithuanian emigrants will be improved, which will undoubtedly have a positive effect on the return to Lithuania of the persons who have emigrated”, the Ministry said.
The Ministry views the experiment with optimism. However, the emigrant‘s representatives doubt whether psychological counselling would encourage the return of emigrants to their native country.
Psychologists Will Aim to Eliminate “Negative Thinking”
As it is stated in the documents of the public procurement of psychological services, the MSSL intends to conclude a contract with psychologists for the approximate duration of six months, until the end of the current year. If the experiment is successful, the Ministry envisages the possibility to extend the contract twice for the period of 12 months each time.
The Ministry aims to provide online psychological assistance to at least one hundred emigrants.
One of the tasks for the psychologists will be to try to eliminate the pessimistic moods existing among the Lithuanians who seek their fortune abroad.
“During the psychological consultations professional psychologists will have to help the persons who have emigrated from Lithuania identify and change their negative thinking patterns, to feel responsible and in control of their actions, to find solutions to everyday problems, to discover their strengths and take advantage of them in various areas of life”, the Ministry‘s public procurement documents stated.
According to the documents, the professionals who would help the emigrants understand themselves, will have to provide the Ministry with detailed reports on their work.
“The provider of the service, when providing the service, will record the gender and age of the persons counsulted, the country to which they have emigrated, the number and method of consultations, the duration of consultations (provided in the form of internet conversations), and will provide brief descriptions of the problem of the persons consulted. They will also append to their reports the tiles of the duration of conversations with each person consulted or the lists of e-mails, printed on paper from the computer program”, the Ministry said, listing its requirements in the documents.
Translated by Rimantas Kleiva
