Family, marital issues top list of OFW concerns in online counseling

Family and marital issues topped the list of concerns commonly consulted online in 2010 by overseas Filipino workers, academics from the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) who run a counseling website for OFWs revealed Sunday. The ADMU Department of Psychology said that majority of their almost 200 OFW counselees have consulted on problems related to their marital partners, children and even in-laws they’ve left behind in the Philippines. “Counselees presented problems related to conflict between partners, infidelity, power and decision-making, and lack of communication," the department’s study on the nature of OFW issues consulted online read. The group of about 40 academics, who provide Web-based counseling to OFWs via www.ofwonline.net, also noted how a huge number of Filipino migrant workers are concerned about “long-distance parenting" and “the guilt in missing out on important events in their family’s lives." About a fourth of their counselees, meanwhile, sought help on work-related problems, which included issues with their co-workers and bosses, as well as racial discrimination and prejudice at work. Other problems included homesickness, adjustment concerns and financial issues, according to the department’s study. The OFW counselees included in the study mostly came from Middle Eastern countries like Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Some of the participants also came from other Asian, North American and European countries. Free online consultations The OFW counseling site ran by the department, in cooperation with the Ateneo Center for Organization Research and Development, has been providing free online consultations to Filipino migrant workers since July 2009. OFWs and their immediate family members may register with ofwonline to get free e-counseling, either through moderated forums or through one-on-one online counseling. One-on-one counselees are given the option to choose their counselors, all academics from the ADMU Psychology Department, who will hold regular consultations with them either via online chat or e-mail. The group also provided last month free face-to-face counseling with OFWs repatriated from Libya due to the political situation in the North African country. An estimated 10 percent of the 90 million Filipinos are OFWs, according to government data. — VS, GMA News