With spring break in the rear-view mirror and finals looming on the horizon, the University Counseling Center is preparing a weeklong series of events to help support students as they approach the finish line of the academic year.
Mental Health Awareness Week, which begins Monday, March 27, will include virtual workshops, hands-on activities, a mental health screening event and more.
“We know that students can start to feel burned out after spring break and the time between the end of the semester,” said LaTasha Sullivan, director of the Counseling Center. “We want to jump in, provide them opportunities to engage with us and remind them of the services they have access to here on campus.”
Located in the University Health Center, the University Counseling Center offers students free and confidential services including individual and group counseling, mental health and awareness programming and crisis intervention services.
Mental Health Awareness Week will kick off with an opportunity for students to paint kindness rocks — small stones adorned with positive messages meant to be spread throughout campus — from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, March 27, in Mulford Library Room 420 on Health Science Campus.
More events open to faculty, staff and students will be held throughout the week, including one-hour virtual lunch-and-learn sessions Monday through Thursday focused on coping tools, positive psychology and improving self-esteem. On Friday, March 31, the center will hold an in-person STAR suicide prevention training in Carlson Library.
Registration is required for the STAR training. A full schedule of events and sign-up links are available on the University Counseling Center website and on Invonet
Mental Health Awareness Week also will include a mental health screening event from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 28, in Thompson Student Union.
Individuals who wish to participate in the screening will be able to complete a guided mental health self-assessment using a provided tablet or on their own mobile device via a QR code. UToledo counselors will be on hand to answer questions and discuss next steps for individuals who may want to pursue mental health services.
Throughout the awareness week, members of the campus community are invited to share the ways they take care of themselves by uploading a My Mental Health Moment submission online. The effort is part of the JED Campus initiative to embed mental health into all levels of the University.
If you or someone you know is thinking or talking about suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org for additional resources.
