At Dalhousie, supporting mental health is all about community

Oscar isn’t your typical therapist as anyone who has paid him a visit during the Puppy Power Hour in Dal’s Student Union Building on Thursdays knows.

He’s furrier, smaller and, well, 100 per cent more canine. And as Dal’s resident therapy dog, his approach to practice is decidedly different than most therapists, revolving primarily around offering himself up for snuggles.

Oscar, shown right (Carter Hutton photo)

As unconventional as animal therapy may be, it is one of many mental health services at Dal that helps create a sense of connection — a feeling critical for many in times when isolation has become more common.  

“Dalhousie is a large university with over 20,000 pupils, but being a student, particularly in the midst of the pandemic, can be incredibly isolating. The stress of academia and everyday life coupled with feelings of loneliness can create the perfect environment for mental health to plummet,” says Catherine Armour, a Masters of Health Promotion student at Dal.

“Connection and community are necessary to combat this, particularly at the institutional level.”

Helping navigate difficult transitions

Dalhousie Student Health & Wellness offers a variety of mental health resources to support students during this tough period, including same-day counselling, group counselling, access to Dal’s social worker, online resources and peer support.

In addition to these important resources, a campus-wide approach that involves the support of the entire community can be crucial to meeting the diverse mental health needs of students.

David Pilon (shown left), director of counselling and psychological services at Dal, stresses that the unavoidable transition back and forth from in-person to online learning has impacted students’ mental health and created obstacles that students haven’t faced before.

“It’s hard for our students, and our community as a whole, to adapt to being back in the city and on campus after such a long period of time learning online,” he explains. “This has impacted students’ stress, anxiety, relationship concerns and their academics.”

Coming together

Student Health & Wellness has continued to explore ways that they can bring the campus community together to have conversations around mental health at Dal and explore solutions to supporting students’ needs.

Dalhousie’s second annual Mental Health Awareness Week is now well underway and brings together the campus community through a variety of in-person and virtual events to increase conversations and reduce stigma around mental health.

Co-hosted by the DSU and Student Health & Wellness, the Dalhousie Mental Health Forum (DMHF) is an open forum for students, faculty and staff to inspire and unite stakeholders in mental health and wellness. It provides a platform for sharing ideas and collaborating on mental health related events, programming and campaigns.

(RSVP here for the next DMHF this Monday, March 21 on Sexton Campus)

“I feel that the conversations are happening at the right time,” says Raghav Sampangi (shown right), a senior instructor in the Faculty of Computer Science. “The global pandemic has allowed us to consider everyone’s experiences in a better way. Now is the time for Dalhousie to take collective steps towards creating a community atmosphere that fosters meaningful connection between students, staff, and faculty, recognizing that we’re all in the same storm, even if we’re not all on the same boat.”
 

The role of faculty and staff

Another community resource that students can turn to in times of need are faculty and staff like Dr. Sampangi.

Dr. Sampangi stresses that faculty and staff play a critical role in building a supportive campus community.

“Our role as faculty and staff members is to foster a psychologically safe environment that allows students to learn, explore new ideas and to create solutions to various global challenges,” he explains. “Hopefully, this paves the way for all of us to work together to make Dalhousie, and the world, more compassionate.”

The Student Health & Wellness SharePoint Site provides resources on how to support students in distress for faculty and staff, including Mental Health 101 and the Blue Folder.