Preparing for the Session
To download the PowerPoint slide deck and handouts that accompany this Facilitator’s Guide, please see the Introduction.
Key learning points of the training include the following:
- We all have a role to play in supporting our own and each other’s mental health.
- We can learn ways to foster and maintain good mental health.
- International students and students who are marginalized and/or racialized may face more barriers to accessing mental health supports.
- There are many strategies for coping with stress.
- We can learn and model effective ways to seek support for our own mental health or mental illness.
Practical Considerations for In-Person and Online Sessions
To prepare to facilitate this workshop, consider the following:
- Read through the Facilitator’s Guide and handouts to familiarize yourself with the content. You may want to download and print the guide as a PDF file.
- Download the slide deck and make any needed modifications.
- Prepare to give a territory acknowledgement to open the session. Also consider ways in which to Indigenize the content. (See Indigenous Considerations.)
- Determine how you will share handouts and other resources. You may want to print out and share during in-person sessions and share the links in the chat for online sessions. You may want to share Handout 1: Wellness Wheel with students ahead of the session and ask that they review it beforehand. Handout 3: Supporting Other Students: Mental Health Resources is a fillable PDF so you can customize it with your institution’s contact information prior to the session.
- Think about which scenarios you want students to discuss. Handout 4.1 has just the scenarios (no responses); Handout 4 has the scenarios with suggested responses. There are 11 scenarios to choose from, but it’s unlikely you’ll have time to cover them all.
- There are two videos you may want to bookmark (and have ready to play in a browser) prior to offering the session: Why Stress is Good for You (Scientific American ) (2:32 min.) and Brené Brown on Empathy (2:53 min.)
- Think about how many participants you expect will attend. The guide assumes a small to medium number of participants (approximately 6 to 30); if your group is very large, you may need to modify some of the small group and reflection activities.
- Add relevant examples and additional insights that are based on your own experience or that are relevant to the student population at your institution.
- Think about the international student populations at your institution. Are there specific cultural differences to consider? For example, in some cultures, such as South Asian cultures, mental illness is still very much stigmatized, and students may be uncomfortable talking about it. A great resource about the mental health of South Asian students is The Pardesi Project. Keep in mind that the mental health words we use in English may not exist in other languages as mental health is rarely discussed in some cul