Facilitator: Guidance and Counselling

Ritah Namutebi Mugume is a counsellor, student affairs professional, trainer, and psychosocial support practitioner with experience working with young people, adults, families, students, and professionals across education, healthcare, workplace, and community settings.

She currently serves as Dean of Students and University Counsellor at Clarke International University (CIU), where she provides leadership in student welfare, counselling, psychosocial support, safeguarding, mental health education, crisis intervention, peer support, and student wellbeing programmes. Her role gives her practical experience in supporting individuals facing academic, personal, relational, career, financial, and psychosocial challenges, while working closely with students, staff, university leadership, and external service providers.

Her counselling experience extends beyond the university setting. At Quick Care Clinic and Wellness Centre, she provided psychosocial counselling to children and adults and served as a lead psychologist in corporate mental health workshops involving organisations such as GIZ, BEL, Tugende, Prudential and UAP. She also facilitated psychoeducation for clients, families, and communities. At the Ministry of Education and Sports, she provided psychosocial support and participated in training on psychosocial needs assessment, data collection, and management. Earlier, at Adventist Medical Centre, she provided HIV and AIDS counselling, prenatal and postnatal counselling, family counselling, guidance, and career counselling, including support to teen mothers.

As a facilitator, Ritah brings together professional knowledge and real-life practice. Her approach is people-centred, participatory, and culturally sensitive. She believes that effective guidance and counselling training should go beyond understanding theories to helping learners develop the confidence, self-awareness, communication skills, ethical judgement, and practical competencies needed to support others responsibly.

Her facilitation style encourages learners to connect theory with everyday experiences and real counselling situations. Through discussions, case studies, reflection, practical exercises, role plays, and shared experiences, she creates an environment where learners can explore counselling concepts while developing skills that can be applied in schools, universities, workplaces, healthcare settings, communities, and other helping professions.

Ritah is particularly passionate about equipping individuals who work with people with practical skills in active listening, effective communication, basic counselling skills, emotional support, resilience, stress and coping, mental health awareness, boundaries, ethical practice, referral, and safeguarding.

With her combined experience in counselling, student affairs, psychosocial support, training, leadership, and community engagement, Ritah brings a practical and compassionate perspective to Guidance and Counselling training.

Her guiding belief is simple: effective helping begins with the ability to listen, understand, respect, and walk alongside people as they navigate their experiences.