St. Davids, PA: Eastern University is pleased to announce its first annual Mental Health Awareness and Wellness Week, January 22-26. This important event is open to students, faculty and staff and is hosted by the Office of Student Development in partnership with the Cushing Center for Counseling and Academic Support, the Undergraduate Psychology and Graduate and Counseling Psychology Departments and the Department of Marriage and Family.
Events will be held daily or twice daily at either Noon or 7 p.m. in the Baird Library with Eastern University faculty and staff experts as speakers. Topics are relevant and wide-ranging and include anxiety, detecting depression, healthy friendships and dating relationships, eating disorders, mindfulness techniques and a panel on the effects of colorism on mental health. Students from Psy Chi, the international honor society in Psychology, will lead stress ball activities in Upper Walton Lounge on Monday, Tuesday and Friday from 12:00 – 1:30 p.m. and Wednesday from 11:00 a.m. - 12:50 p.m.
Director of Multicultural Student Initiatives and Goode Scholars in the Office of Student Development, Theresa Noye, has been leading the collaboration across departments to create this special week designed to inform and support the Eastern community. Noye, along with Lexi Dunbar, Eagle Residence Director and ACT 101 Counselor, had the idea for the event and have been appreciative of the community wide effort of students, faculty and staff to make it a reality. Noye said their goals for the week-long awareness initiative are to “Normalize the conversation around mental health, to give students practical resources to equip them and to fill them with hope.”
The full schedule is as follows:
- Monday, January 22, 7 p.m., Baird Library: Dr. Cheryl Sparks, “Anxiety”
- Tuesday, January 23, Noon, Baird Library: Dr. Lisa Hemlick, “Is it Depression or am I Just Sad? How to Know What’s Wrong (and Right) With You”
- Tuesday, January 23, 7 p.m., Baird Library: Dr. Sharon Thompson, “Having Healthy Boundaries in Friendships”
- Wednesday, January 24, 7 p.m., Baird Library: Taja Peterkin-Mclean, “The Effects of Colorism on Mental Health” and Panel
- Thursday, January 25, Noon, Baird Library: Amanda Mayock, MA, LPC, “Mindfulness and Breathing Techniques”
- Thursday, January 25, 7 p.m., Baird Library: Dr. Landi Turner, “Eating Disorders”
- Friday, January 26, Noon, McInnis 254: Jo Saba, “Mental Health and Dating Relationships”
For more information on the Mental Health Awareness and Wellness Week please contact Lexi Dunbar (adunbar@eastern.edu) or Theresa Noye (tnoye@eastern.edu).
For more information on the Cushing Center for Counseling and Academic Support contact ccas@eastern.edu.
