November 29, 2020
TL;DR: feedback form, event recordings, art exhibit, strengths for wellbeing, graduate mental health survey, mental health month masks, imposter syndrome survey
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What a November! Thank you enormously for any involvement you had in the Princeton Graduate Student Government’s 2020 Mental Health Awareness Month.
Whether you attended some of the virtual events, visited our online art exhibit, interacted with anecdotes from Princeton students on the GSG Slack and Facebook pages, participated in any of our daily wellness challenges, or are just responding to this survey, we hope you’ll make a bit more space for mental well-being for yourself and for those around you.
Although Mental Health Awareness Month is coming to a close, we hope you’ll continue to make your mental wellness a priority. We hope to see you at future mental health events throughout the year, and at next year’s Mental Health Awareness Month in November 2021!
Here is our compiled list of Mental Health Resources both on and off Princeton campus. Attached to this email, you’ll also find information on virtual drop-in hours with TigerWell outreach counselor, Sue Kim, as well as the telehealth flier from the Center for Emotional Health, an off-campus center offering teletherapy as part of the Student Health Plan exclusive provider network for mental and behavioral health. Teletherapy appointments continue to be covered by SHP at 100% (no co-pay) through January 31, 2021.
For more information about Mental Health Month, you can explore this sit. You can also contact us with any questions at graduatementalhealth@gmail.com.
I. Feedback Form
Please let us know how you felt about the schedule of events over this past month, and if you have any suggestions for future improvement. We appreciate any feedback you have! You can access the google form to submit an anonymous response here.
II. Event Recordings
In case you missed some of the Mental Health Month events, you can watch a few of the recordings on our website. Below is a list of events that were recorded:
- Pushing Against Perfectionism
- Keynote talk by Cam Stout: Light Heart, Focused Mind: Mental Wellness and Self-Care During the Pandemic
- Religion and Mental Health: Resources for Living Well
- Unique Minds: Creative Voices – Art exhibit virtual tour and artists’ talks
- Caring for the Stressed-out Body, Mind and Community
- Diversity and Mental Health – Letters to Strangers Panel Discussion
- How to support a friend when you are concerned about their substance use
- Why uncertainty makes us anxious
III. Art Exhibit
Our virtual art exhibition, Unique Minds: Creative Voices, will remain online through December. We invite you to visit the beautiful 3D virtual gallery here. You can read more about the exhibit on our website here.
IV. Strengths for Wellbeing | Friday, December 4th at 11am EST
Want to avoid burn-out? Join strengths coach, Lauren Scarlett for a session on how to discover your individual strengths to build self-awareness, resilience, and wellbeing. You will complete the Cappfinity Strengths Assessment and receive a free Strengths Profile Report. There will be an interactive group discussion on Friday, December 4th 11am-12:15pm. GradFUTURES is sponsoring this event as part of Mental Health Awareness Month. Register here.
V. Graduate Mental Health Survey
Check your email for a message about a 15-minute survey on Graduate Student Mental Health (subject: Longitudinal Research on Graduate Student Stressors). This is part of a project run by Princeton graduate students through the Graduate Mental Health Initiative. The goal of the survey is to better understand graduate student mental health at Princeton, especially in response to new coronavirus stressors, in order to design better targeted mental health interventions.
VI. Mental Health Month Masks
Didn’t get your Mental Health Month facemask yet? You can still pick up a mask at the Caldwell Fieldhouse testing clinic. Get your mask the next time you pick-up testing kits! Supply is limited, so we encourage you to pick up your mask as soon as possible before they run out. We ask that you only take one mask per person. (Note that all masks have already been claimed from the residential pick-up locations at the Graduate College, Lakeside and Lawrence apartments).
VII. Imposter Syndrome Survey
The Graduate Peer Coaching Program (McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning) has put together a survey related to imposter syndrome. GPCP is a group of graduate students interested in bringing together other graduate students to talk about issues of belonging, isolation, and imposter syndrome, among other topics. If any of this resonates with you, please fill out the survey here and add your email to participate in future events and workshops.
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GSG’s ongoing mental health resources & quick links:
- Mental Health Resources page
- Mental Health Month event recordings, including the Keynote
- Visit our online Mental Health art exhibit, Unique Minds: Creative Voices, here.
- Join our interactive Mental Health post-it board on Miro. Add a virtual “sticky-note” to share your thoughts with other grad students on a variety of topics.
- Listen to our collaborative Mental Health playlist on Spotify–add your favorite mental health related song to our playlist!
- Although our weekly Friday coffee shop series has concluded, the virtual coffee shop on Gathertown will remain open. Please feel free to use this space any time for casual meet-ups and virtual coffee chats with other graduate students!
- Throughout Mental Health Month, we posted mental health anecdotes submitted anonymously by graduate students addressing their mental health in graduate school. These stories are shared on the #health-resources channel of our Slack page, our website, and the Graduate Student Government Facebook Page to open up the conversation around shared experiences as graduate students at Princeton. We invite you to take a look at statements from other grad students on their experiences. You are not alone!
- Check out our website to download the Wellness Challenge Bingo Board. Although we have reached the end of the November wellness challenge series, we challenge you to make your own plan for daily self-care over the next month!
For more information please email graduatementalhealth@gmail.com. Don’t forget to check out our website and following the Graduate Student Government Facebook Page!
The GSG would like to thank our many campus partners and sponsors including Campus Conversations, the Women*s Center, The Graduate School, Campus Recreation, the LGBT Center, the Carl A. Fields Center, the Office of Religious Life, the Office of Disability Services, the AccessAbility Center, The Center for Career Development, the Davis International Center, The Office of Alumni Affairs, GradFUTURES, Letters to Strangers, the Princeton University Neurodiversity Collective, the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning, TigerWell, and Counseling and Psychological Services.
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