With the amount of stressors seemingly piling on in today’s climate, we may be feeling a bit overwhelmed. However, even if you are currently in self-isolation, there are a variety of resources you can turn to for help, coping, and positivity. If there is one thing the pandemic and social changes occurring and feeling stressed have in common is that we are not alone and we’re all in this together.
While previously having been located in the University Park Plaza, the Center for Student Counseling and Well-Being, previously known as the Henderson Student Counseling Services, will be moving their center to the third floor of the Student Affairs building come the fall semester.
“[Having our office] previously located in the University Park Plaza was a concern that students had expressed for some time… So, the students’ voices were heard and there was an effort to find a more convenient location for our center. Now, we actually have moved into a more centralized location for students and we hope that this increases accessibility while increasing continued student engagement with our services,” said Erika Correa, a licensed psychologist and assistant director of the Center for Student Counseling and Well-Being.
Given it’s summertime, if you are currently in need or want of counseling, you can turn to the center remotely via TeleHealth or telephone or video call for a one-on-one counseling session Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. If you’re in need of help after hours, you can call 954-424-6911. There are also weekly webinars available for students to watch live or recorded to learn more about mental health and coping and striving with the pandemic and protests.
“[The webinars have been] covering topics of self-care, home studying, time management and a wide array of other topics as well. It’s actually been quite positive experience to work with graduate level students from multiple disciplines to come together and prepare these webinars. In response to the recent rise and call for social justice, our counselors will actually be hosting several discussions on race and well-being. The schedule for these webinars and for these discussions can be found on the NSU Student CARE Team website,” said Correa.
The NSU Student CARE Team is a multidisciplinary team designed to provide support for NSU students’ well-being and academic success by connecting students with various campus resources. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NSU Student CARE Team has been hosting Student Well-being Workshops as well as providing students self-help tools and access to campus community resources on their website.
“I really can’t stress enough the importance of self-care right now and that’s both for the mind and for the body and this can take shape in many different forms because it can be any activity that promotes our own mental health and physical health. This is a time of great uncertainty.
And so, one of the things that may be beneficial is trying to maintain some form of a routine that can maybe help us have a bit of sense of normalcy,” Correa mentioned.
If you’re one to battle things out on your own, it is still important to take into consideration different tips and tricks to better your mental health in moments of global chaos like these. Correa suggests getting good sleep, eating and exercising regularly, and maintaining a healthy diet, as well as, doing things that you find enjoyable.
“There’s a lot of overwhelming emotions right now, but sometimes we need a break from having to deal with these difficult experiences that we’re having and it’s still okay to try and find time for those relaxing activities, whether it’s through doing something like deep breathing or meditation for stress reduction. That may help us kind of drop and anchor throughout this storm that we may feel that we’re going through right now,” said Correa.
We’re all in this together, and putting forth our mental health and being there for others, is one of many ways we will get through this and remind ourselves that we are not alone. There’s always a helping hand somewhere when we need it.
Hear more from Erika Correa on Episode 7 of RadioX’s Off the Record podcast by visiting https://soundcloud.com/nsu-radiox.
Photo: C. Lemercier
