The St. Ambrose University Counseling Center is taking steps to reduce the negative stigma surrounding mental health on campus through an increase in access to mental health education for everyone. 

The recent mental health fair that provided a mixture of both on and off-campus resources was just the beginning step to reaching their goal of ending this negative stigma.  

Over 30 different tables with services, activities, and vendors were offered at the fair. Photo courtesy of Carolyn Graham. 

Going forward the Counseling Center is offering “Life Coach Workshops” that will run September 13th-December 7th, 2021.  Lindsay Hohertz, an Outreach Specialist with the Counseling Center here at SAU, will be running these workshops. 

“It’s more of myself talking than a group setting of sharing your feelings. So it’s not that, it’s me presenting on different mental health issues, and I have a couple kind of inline that I’m thinking of presenting for still,” Hohertz said. “We already did the social anxiety and grounding techniques and I’m also going to be doing body image at some point, boundary issues at some point, relationships.”

Hohertz aims to create a welcoming environment that promotes the “rest and digest” response of the brain through appealing scents, gentle music and comfortable seating. 

STEP was one of several SAU organizations that were present at the fair, pictured is one of their new service dogs in training. Photo courtesy of Carolyn Graham.

“In addition to reducing stigma about help-seeking we hope that students learn strategies to take care of their mental health, some ideas for coping with struggles, and ideas about how to regulate emotions,” Dr. Sarah Oliver, Counseling Director, said. “And that there are many different places on and off-campus where you can get help if you are struggling.”

The Counseling Center wants the SAU community to understand that mental health is a struggle for everyone at sometime in their lives and hopes that events like these will help students feel the supportive community that’s around them.

 The workshops will be every Monday 2:30-3:30 and Tuesday 5:00 pm-6:00 pm and students are encouraged to come and go as they please. 

Other services and education available besides counseling include the online self-help platform TAO and the Eastern Iowa Region Crisis System which features a 24/7 crisis helpline and much more. 

For more information on the workshops, please contact Lindsay Hohertz. The Counseling Center’s social media are available as follows: Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. 

Flyer for the Life Coach Workshops. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Hohertz.