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Tufts’ Counseling and Mental Health Services now offers an online appointment scheduling system, has student mental health representatives and is hosting a mental health and wellness fair on Monday as part of Mental Health Awareness Week.
Julie Jampel, Director of Instruction at CMHS, said the introduction of the new appointment scheduling system has been positive and students have been taking advantage of this option.
“He was busy,” Jampel said. “It will definitely be used.”
Online appointment scheduling was previously reserved for the Ask a Counselor service, which is an informal 15-minute phone consultation to quickly discuss an issue or determine whether therapy might be right for a student. Now, the online system is available for all appointments, including individual counseling.
This is the first year since the outbreak in 2020 that CMHS has offered in-person appointments again.
“We’re excited for the new school year and excited to get back to in-person appointments and have that as an option again,” Jampel said.
The zoom option remains available and is popular with students.
“We’re now going back to in-person appointments and students are asking for that,” Jampel said. “They’re also asking for more magnification appointments because that’s convenient and it works for other reasons.”
This year, CMHS is using mental health representatives to increase student outreach and programs. Mental health reps were established last year, but especially with Covid-19 last year protecting some people with disabilities, they are still a new group on campus. Mental Health Representatives serve as liaisons between CMHS and the student body.
“Mental health representatives work directly with CMHS staff to advocate for mental health support, reduce stigma, and promote mental and emotional well-being,” wrote Erica Schoeman, mental health promotion specialist at CMHS.
Mental health representatives will assist at the Mental Health and Wellness Fair that CMHS will present Monday on the roof of Tisch Library. The fair will include booths from various departments to help students learn skills and resources to benefit from mental health, as well as free food, therapy dogs and prizes.
Mental Health Awareness Week events are held on all Tufts campuses. Programming includes workshops and discussions, as well as yoga, meditation and journaling sessions.
Jed Quitt, mental health representative, said the program aims to increase visibility of the many services CMHS provides.
“Believe it or not, about 20% of students have actually used CMHS services,” said Quiaoit, a sophomore.
He explained that they are part of the mental health representatives’ work in collaboration with clubs and organizations on campus and in collaboration with the Student Diversity and Inclusion Center.
“[We want to] Bring more discussion about mental health because obviously Tufts is a very diverse student body, so maybe in some cultures it’s stigmatized, in some cultures it’s not, so we want to bring that discussion up.
This year there are nine students in the group. Quiaoit said he was motivated to join because, as a freshman last year, he wished he had known about CMHS earlier.
“Last year, … I was transitioning to campus, and I also identified as first generation. … I didn’t know about CMHS until mid-spring semester,” Quitt said. “…I wanted to raise awareness of mental health in a personalized way.
In addition to these new initiatives, CMHS will once again offer the aforementioned Ask Counselor and Personal Counseling Services, as it does every year. CMHS also has various counseling groups and workshops. The counseling groups cover topics ranging from loss to addiction to body positivity and meet weekly with a counselor before required meetings. The workshops meet once or twice to discuss topics such as black health, international student exclusion, or multicultural/mixed race identity. Workshops can be a great option for students who want to build a community or are unable to provide individual counseling.
“A workshop participant doesn’t necessarily have to be there for every meeting, if there is a series,” Jampel said. “If the workshop is a good match, just register to attend.”
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