The Palestinian Counseling Center (PCC) was established in Jerusalem by a group of psychologists, sociologists, and educational experts in 1983. The Center was established to work on developing and improving mental health concepts and services in Palestine.

Work at the Center started out on a voluntary basis through raising awareness in school to the importance of counseling and the importance of working with children exposed to physical and political violence. At that time, mental health services were restricted to psychiatric treatment for mental disorders at mental health hospitals such as the hospital in Bethlehem, in addition to private clinics that were operated by psychiatrists. Treatment methods used were limited to bio-medical treatment, i.e., medication and electric shocks as well as behavioral therapy.

Since then, the Center has passed through a number of phases in its development process that led to the present shape and character the Center is in today.

Since the establishment of the PCC in 1983, the Center's vision has remained the same, and that is, to have a healthy Palestinian society that is productive in an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. This vision focuses on building the balance between the individual and her/his surrounding environment. In order to reach this vision, counseling as a concept had to be introduced, understood, and accepted in Palestinian society. Since its establishment in 1983, it was very important for the Center to maintain a clear ideological approach that ran parallel to our work undertaken with the individual and community from a mental health perspective.

Our vision is that the individual is a unit or an entity in the bigger social context. This unit is crucial in composing the big social structure, and therefore if this unit or cell is healthy, then the bigger structure that is the society, will not suffer and deteriorate, but will become strong and flourish.

We view the individual holistically. This inevitably means that services we provide cater to the individual, 'the Self', with all her/his needs and as a complex social being. However, our main concern, was in, 'the Self' as the main point that inspired our thinking and holistic service provision.

The PCC as present is the result of a cycle of transformatory phases that shaped it the way it is today. The PCC started intervening at the primary intervention level concentrating its efforts in raising the community's awareness to the importance of counseling as a form of effective therapy for various psycho-social problems. The PCC then moved to intervene at he secondary level by placing supervising psychologists, counselors and social workers in schools and primary health care clinics. In the period that followed, it had become acceptable and even requested that specialized mental health clinics exist and operate.

• To improve the psychological well-being of individuals and groups that suffer from mental illness that affects their daily performance.
• To minimize the danger of psychological, social, and academic problems.
• To upgrade the capacities of individuals and institutions working in mental health.
• To contribute to the realization of the sustainability of the Center through abiding by good governance principles.
• To develop policies and capacities in mental health.

The human resources who have a specific vision and plan of action to realize the dream of vision need a structure to help them know ‘what they are doing’, ‘when’, and ‘with whom’. The structure provides the feeling of security and clarity in regards to the work they are doing, i.e., delegation of responsibilities, departments, authorities, responsibilities and accountability. Security and clarity contribute towards the organization’s efficiency and impact.

The PCC has a twenty General Assembly that meet once every year to oversee the policies and procedures of the institution. From the General Assembly a committee of five, Board of Directors, is selected to meet on a bi-monthly basis to ensure implementation of policies and procedures and to have direct contact with the staff of the organization. A Monitoring Committee comprised of three members of the General Assembly, meet when needed to assist in difficult decisions such as the personal issues, financial and other managerial problems. The PCC Director, Dr. Rana Nashashibi, is responsible for the day-to-day functioning of the organization. An Internal Administrative Committee comprised of the heads of the departments (5) and the Director, meet every two weeks to share information, make collective decisions and oversee the comprehensive strategic plan for the organization.

The PCC has five departments, three that are program based and two administrative based. These Departments are: the Clinical Department, the Socio-Educational Department, the Training and Consultancy Department, the Public Relations Department and the Administrative and Financial Department.

The PCC staff meetings take place every two weeks with a prepared agenda and the availability of space to add new items so that staff can address all needs. In addition, Departmental meetings take place every week and consist of all the staff working in the various Departments. Program meetings, for the various programs are also held once a week with staff working in a particular program, project or service meeting. These meetings (Internal Administration, Departmental, Staff and Program) aim to make contact with all staff and provide the opportunity for creative thinking, collective decision-making, internal evaluations and collective planning.

Finally, the PCC has two additional committees. The first is the Employees Committee (comprised of three staff, one head of department and two administrative and program staff) that aims to assure employee rights and interests. The second is a Purchase Committee (comprised of three staff - three heads of departments) that oversees and make decisions relating to bids and purchases (of a limited amount).