Mental Health and Wellness Week Starts April 25

Dear Rutgers–New Brunswick Community:

Our students, faculty, and staff have demonstrated so much strength, flexibility, and compassion amid a time of devastating loss and turmoil. What we have accomplished together, simply by continuing to provide excellence in education, research, and service, has been remarkable.

But being relentlessly strong has taken a toll on each of us. And our responsibilities—to ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities—must include looking after our own mental health and wellness.

To remind us of this important truth, Rutgers–New Brunswick will commemorate the week of April 25 as Mental Health and Wellness Week. Each day’s activities will provide insights into our own mental health needs, call attention to resources for students and employees, and encourage us to take time each day for self-care.

A cornerstone of the week, at noon Monday, April 25, will be the inaugural Chancellor-Provost’s Mental Health and Wellness Lecture by Shireen Rizvi, Ph.D., Professor of Clinical Psychology at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology.

Dr. Rizvi’s webinar, “Skills for Achieving Emotional Wellness,” will discuss the value of using practical skills to manage difficult emotions and stressful situations; provide a brief introduction to specific skills—such as mindfulness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance—that we can use to achieve emotional wellness; and share useful resources. Information on how the join the Zoom webinar, which begins at 12 p.m. Monday, April 25, can be found here.

Our Mental Health and Wellness Week website provides the full list of events that will be held each day, both in-person and virtually. It also links to mental health and wellness resources that Rutgers University and Rutgers–New Brunswick provide for students and employees.

The week’s featured events include, among many others:

• The New Jersey Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention will hold a “Talk Saves Lives– Suicide Prevention Education for Workplace Settings” webinar on Thursday, April 28. Siobhan Power, Assistant Director of the Bloustein Center for Survey Research, will join AFSP Area Director Elizabeth Roithmayr-Clemens to provide participants with the scope of the problem of suicide, key research findings, including risk factors and warning signs for suicide, and recommendations for the role we can all play in suicide prevention. Register here
• “I Need a Minute” 60-second mindfulness exercises will be held at 9 a.m., 2 p.m., and 7 p.m. each day via Facebook, led by Dr. Peter Economou, Associate Teaching Professor at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, and Nikita Cuvilje, Health Education Specialist at Student Health.
• Rutgers Student Health will offer Campus Connect Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training and Mental Health First Aid training events for faculty, staff and students. 
• Rutgers Recreation will hold a Yoga in the Park session on Thursday, April 28 at Deiner Park on the College Avenue campus.
• Rutgers Student Health’s Health Outreach, Promotion & Education (HOPE) Peer Mental Health Educators will lead interactive workshops on gratitude, compassion, and the importance of play. HOPE Wellness Coaches will also hold Speed Wellness Coaching sessions, one-on-one wellness coaching sessions to help students identify solutions toward their future wellness goals.
• The Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, through its Wellness Wednesdays with Family & Community Health Sciences initiative, will provide webinars on “Mindful Meditation and Stress Reduction” and on “Learning to Feed Your Family Stress-Free.”
• The Zimmerli Art Museum on Wednesday, April 27 will host a Sound Bath, a 30-minute guided meditation with singing bowls, chimes, and other sound instruments within the inspiring setting of the museum’s galleries.
• There will be a wealth of opportunities to pause, relax, and mindfully engage with other members of our campus community. “Planting the Seeds of Wellness” events will allow community members to plant flowers in designated areas across our campuses. Opportunities to de-stress with miniature horses, chair massages, a coloring station, giveaways, and gratitude boards will also be offered at various locations during the week.

Resources promoted on the Mental Health and Wellness Week website include, among many others:

• “90 Seconds of Resiliency” videos produced by University Behavioral Health Care, to help viewers build and maintain resilience.
• “Mental Health Moments” videos produced by the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP) on topics including self-compassion, behavioral activation, mindfulness, PTSD, and more.
• The Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station’s Department of Family and Community Health Sciences’ Live Well-Stay Healthy Texts, which offer twice-weekly wellness reminders and Work Well program, which offers newsletters and other resources to help employees maintain a healthy lifestyle.

This special week is part of my office’s effort to establish a culture of wellness at Rutgers–New Brunswick, consistent with President Holloway’s commitment to building a beloved community, and with our Academic Master Plan’s focus on student success. My office will provide more information about this priority during the coming weeks and months.

If you are feeling distressed or know someone who is, I urge you to seek assistance. Rutgers has many wellbeing resources available to assist students and employees. Please become familiar with these documents and bookmark and share them with others as needed.

Sincerely,

Francine Conway, Ph.D.
Chancellor-Provost, Rutgers University–New Brunswick