As Sacred Heart University students head back to class, they’ll have more tools to help manage day-to-day stress and keep their mental health in check.
SHU has launched a web-based platform, dubbed YOU@SHU, designed to foster mental health wellness among students. SHU is also expanding its counseling center to give students the support and resources they need.
SHU acquired a $35,844 grant from the Connecticut Campus Mental Health Program for the new digital platform.
Gov. Ned Lamont announced the grant funding last year as a way to help colleges and universities address students’ mental health challenges driven in part by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Mental health is finally on the front page of every news source for higher education,” said James Geisler, director of counseling at Sacred Heart and grant co-director. “Students’ mental health is a priority at Sacred Heart and every other college and university.”
Geisler added that YOU@SHU focuses on early intervention.
“Counseling is a very reactive approach when you think about it,” said Geisler. “Students are struggling; they come to us, and we provide a service. However, what if we were able to help students much sooner? Once students reach out to the counseling center, they’ve often accumulated symptoms that have grown worse and are now affecting their ability to function.”
YOU@SHU will enable students to assess different aspects of their well-being, including social wellness, nutrition, sleep, relationships and more. When students turn to the tool because they are struggling, they will be guided to the best resources on campus to help them.
“This platform fosters campus connections to many resources available at Sacred Heart,” said Karen Flanagan, peer education coordinator at SHU’s counseling center. “We need students to understand that accessing resources for support is a strategy for success, not a sign of failure.”
YOU@SHU will also be promoted to students during their classes.
“We’re really taking this digital tool and saying, ‘Wellness is part of our culture here,’” Geisler said. “We all have mental health, and we all need to take care of it.”
In addition to YOU@SHU, mental health counselors will be available for students at the expanded counseling area in the Maureen Hamilton Wellness Center. Students can schedule appointments by calling the center, and counselors will accommodate same-day appointments for walk-ins and emergencies.
