With May being Mental Health Awareness Month across the country, Dartmouth is holding wellness activities for employees and continuing a slate of events for students.
Ongoing offerings through the Student Wellness Center include visits with beloved therapy dogs Rosie and Poppy and weekly mindfulness and yoga sessions that are open to all Dartmouth students, staff, and faculty.
“By inviting staff, faculty, and students into mindfulness practices together, we can help create a more connected community,” says Caitlin Barthelmes, director of the Student Wellness Center.
The Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies is marking Mental Health Awareness Month with a series of activities ranging from a career exploration workshop for science graduate students and postdocs to mindfulness training to get-togethers over lunch and tea.
Thayer School of Engineering will host Wags ‘n’ Waffles on May 17, featuring Dean Alexis Abramson’s homemade waffles and a visit from a therapy dog.
At the Tuck School of Business, the Mental Health and Wellness Initiative student co-chairs are posting a blog and letting classmates know of offerings, such as Koru Mindfulness sessions.
And a student-faculty discussion about mental health in the classroom, sponsored by Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning, is set for May 17.
Wellness at Dartmouth, which offers resources to support employee health, is sponsoring Mindful May. The schedule features free virtual and in-person events and resources, including yoga, group walks, short meditation sessions, and more.
“Focusing on your mental health is important for your overall well-being,” says Courtney Rotchford, program manager for health promotion and wellness. “My hope is that by highlighting a variety of in-person and virtual experiences, education, and resources as part of Mindful May it will help encourage individuals to prioritize their mental health not only during this month, but on an ongoing basis throughout the year.”
Wellness at Dartmouth and the Student Wellness Center are among the many well-being resources at Dartmouth, which prioritized mental health programs and services for students as a key component of its Call to Lead campaign.
Recent activities supporting mental health have included Unwind Your Mind on April 28, which focused on suicide prevention and mental health awareness, peer-to-peer support, and community connection.
Community members also participated in a suicide prevention walk on Sunday that started at the Green.