2020 has been an unusual and challenging time for the world: with the rampant coronavirus and many natural disasters, this period of uncertainty and turbulence has magnified many people’s sadness, depression, anxiety, anger, loneliness as well as many other emotions. This year has been a challenge for us all, especially for families with children and students. All of a sudden, the familiar steps and rhythms of life broke for many of us.
“Misfortune, that is where happiness depends; happiness, that is where misfortune underlies.” comes from an old Chinese proverb. It is this feeling of unknown and uncertainty that has pushed people's emotions to the brink, making mental health a focus of the public eye.
Mental health has indeed gained more and more attention, but in China it is still a topic that can easily be ignored. CandleX, our non-profit organization based in Beijing, provides mental health services primarily to international communities. Being in operation since 2015, CandleX has gradually attracted more and more people, specifically expats and English speaking Chinese. Through this platform, many people opened their hearts for the first time, bravely acknowledging and facing their emotions, and learning how to cope with them.
The five and a half years of operation have given us a lot of experience. CandleX’s teen projects have gradually expanded, starting with mental health education in schools and educational institutions. We began to feel the needs of this special group such as the mental health needs of international students in China and Chinese students overseas. This year’s teen’s open letter project has been greatly recognized and promoted by schools, media, educational institutions, counselors and psychologists. However, in some of the families, the parents do not speak English. In order to help parents better understand their child's feelings and improve their parent-child relationship, we had the idea to make a Chinese WeChat official account. After months of preparation, we will officially be launching “始然心理（ShiRan XinLi）” on January 1st, 2021.
Watch the video below from the director of CandleX
We hope that this platform for mental health will reach many common families in China, so that fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, teachers and students can join hands and build a healthy bridge of communication with continued education on how to maintain good mental health with each other. We hope that this program will help mental health become an ordinary topic in China.
2020年，对全世界来讲，真是一段特殊的日子：新冠病毒肆虐蔓延，自然灾害此起彼伏。人们的悲伤、抑郁、焦虑、愤怒、孤独等情绪……在这种潮起潮落的阴霾下，好像被突然放大了无数倍。尤其孩子们，学生们，不得不蛰居在家里上网课，熟悉的节奏，一下子被打破，人们仿佛被一个个独立的玻璃屋突然罩住，不能真真切切感受对方亲切的呼吸。
“福兮，焉知祸兮，祸兮，焉知福兮。”正是这种祸福不知的浪潮，一下子把如何引导人们的情绪推向前台，成为各方人士努力的焦点工程。
诚然，心理健康已经越来越受到人们的关注，但依然可以说，是被挤在一个容易被忽视的角落。在北京，我们创建的面向以在北京的国际人群的机构CandleX，从2015年成立至今已经运转了五年半，逐步规范地、充满爱心地吸引了许多人士，主要是国际人群、华裔以及留学生。通过这个平台，许多人第一次敞开心扉，勇敢地感知自己的情绪，面对自己的情绪，积极调整自己的情绪。
这五年半的运作给了我们很多的经验，给了我们很多的信心。青少年的心理健康项目逐步发展扩大，我们从在学校、教育机构做心理健康教育开始，也更多的感受到一个特殊群体的特殊需求，即在华的国际学校学生，以及在国外的中国留学生心理健康的需求。而今年的“青少年公开信”项目得到学校、媒体、教育机构以及心理咨询师和心理学家的认可和推广。而这一部分家庭中，有一部分家庭的父母不讲英文，为了更好的帮助这些家庭的家长了解到自己子女的心声、促进亲子关系的改善，就有了做一个中文公众号的想法，涉及家长教育以及翻译青少年教育的原创内容 。所以我们决定：2021年1月1日，开启运营CandleX中文公众号: 始然心理 CandleX
我们希望这一心理健康公益平台，欣欣然走进中国的普通家庭，让父与子，母与女，老师和学生携起手来，愉快地搭建心理沟通的桥梁，让心理健康成为一个阳光话题，让孩子们的人生轻松起来，让父母的挚爱轻松起来，一起向前努力。
我们采访了始然心理（CandleX）创始人及执行总监秦小杰，她简单地介绍了我们的成长，并规划拓展了新的目标与平台。
美国心理学家莫顿•亨特说得好：面对一个目标，迈出一小步，再一小步，体会每一步带来的成就感，直到达成自己的目标。我们相信：“始然心理”会稳步成长，为子女和家长，为学生和老师，搭建沟通的桥梁，学习如何维持心理健康，并帮助青少年身心健康地成长。
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