Patna: The Institute of Psychological Research and Service (IPRS) is the only institution of its kind in the state, imparting training in clinical psychology and rendering psychological service to the people facing some sort of mental illness.
Founded in 1945 by the then vice-chancellor, Sir C P N Singh, and formally inaugurated on January 17,1947 by Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru at Krishna Kunj building donated by educationist and social reformer Sir Ganesh Dutt Singh, IPRS is a postgraduate wing of PU and serves as a premier institution of applied psychology. The first laboratory of clinical psychology in the country was set up in this institution. The Child Guidance Clinic of the Institute was opened by the then chief minister, Shri Krishna Singh, in December 1947.
Since then the institute has been performing training and research activities and rendering psychological services of various types.
IPRS director Priyadarshini Narain said the psychological services offered by the institute include guidance service for students and the public, child guidance, mental health services and psychology testing service.
In its child guidance clinic, said Narain, the institute deals with the psychological problems of children who are educationally backward, aggressive, neurotic, delinquent and face the problems of nervousness, temper-tantrums, and speech difficulties. The institute, in general, attends to patients suffering from various psychological disorders.
A good number of patients come to the institute for psychological help on their own, while many others are referred to the institute by AIIMS and other health centres, she said.
IPRS started a PG diploma course in clinical psychology in 1995. Admission to this one-year course is made on the basis of an entrance test. The number of seats in the course is 30.
In this course, students are trained to assess, diagnose and design a treatment plan for people having behavioural problems pertaining to their personal, educational, family and community life. Apart from providing theoretical inputs through class lectures, students are attached to a mental hospital for practical training under the guidance of some faculty member.
Usually, students admitted to the course at IPRS are trained in different aspects of clinical psychology at Ranchi Institute of Neuro-Psychiatry and Allied Science , Kanke, Psychiatry department of Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) and Composite Regional Centre, Patna (governed by the ministry of social justice and empowerment, Bihar). After completing this course, students get employment as counsellors in different organisations, including …….
