Mental Health Seminars
The Mental Health Seminar series offers students, graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, faculty, and staff insight into the research and practice of mental health. They create a space for learning, reflection and discussion. The overall goal of the seminars is to empower campus community members to help influence the culture of mental health and well-being.
This fall, seminars include:
- 10/10 12 – 1:30 pm – Finding Balance in a Digital World presented by Anne Maheux, Ph.D.
- 11/15 2:30 - 4 pm - Navigating Mental Health Through Life's Changes presented by Jane Cooley-Fruehwirth, Ph.D.
Video Catalogue of Seminars
Individual seminar links go to the video recording of that seminar.
Listed in reverse chronological order:
- Regaining a Sense of Safety: Coping with Trauma and Grief Dr. Donald Rosenstein provides perspectives on navigating trauma and grief as well as ideas to support individual and collective coping in the aftermath of tragedy.
- Building Resilience: Strategies for Getting Through Challenging Times - Sarah Rieves-Houston, Ph.D. and director of the Behavioral Health Springboard, teaches research-informed strategies to be more resilient during times of challenge.
- How to Center Your Focus When Focusing is Difficult - Nicholas Fogleman, Ph.D., a child psychologist and director of the UNC ADHD Program explores the background of attention and focus as well as strategies that can help.
- How to Foster Happiness: Cultivating Emotional Language and Pursuing Value-Based Action - David Obergfell, DSW, LCSW and Executive Director for Student Wellbeing and Violence Prevention dove into understanding the nature of happiness as a dynamic result of recognizing, honoring, and attending to our emotional states.
- Understanding Emotions and How to Talk About Them - The session was facilitated by Rachel Rifkin, LCSW. Rachel is a clinical instructor / psychotherapist at UNC School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry. We gathered to better understand your feelings, and learn strategies to explore and communicate about them.
- It's Okay to Pause - The session was facilitated by Crystal Schiller, Ph.D., a psychologist and researcher in UNC School of Medicine. We gathered to better understand the theory and practice of mindful pauses, how to prioritize them in our own life, and how to inspire them in the community around us.
- Mental Health Colloquium - Practicing Cultural Awareness and Humility, Trauma-Informed Engagement in the Community - Expert talks building upon the discussion and suggestions from last semester's Mental Health Summit and kicking off our fall semester series of mental health seminars. This colloquium moves us from theory to practice, centering the discussion on Practicing Cultural Awareness and Humility, presented by Leah Cox, vice provost for equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer, and Trauma-Informed Engagement in the Community, presented by April Parker, clinical assistant professor in the School of Social Work.
- Mental Health Update Video - The conversation was kicked off by Amy Johnson, Ed.D., vice chancellor for Student Affairs, and Samantha Meltzer-Brody, Ph.D. and chair of the Department of Psychiatry updating you on mental health initiatives on campus, followed by Ed Fisher, Ph.D. from the Gillings School of Public Health on peer support initiatives. The conversation examined efforts that have been made toward campus mental health including the spring mental health seminar series and considered the next steps towards creating a community of care and compassion
- Mental Health and Interpersonal Violence: How Do They Connect? - The conversation was facilitated and framed by Christi Hurt, Ph.D., chief of staff to the chancellor, and discussed by a panel of practitioner experts on the intersection between interpersonal violence and mental health. It featured panelist Avery Cook, Shelley Gist Kennedy, and Holly Lovern.
- Mental Health, Alcohol and Drugs: How Do They Connect? - The conversation was facilitated by Charla Blumell, Ph.D. and assistant director of health promotion and prevention with Student Wellness, and framed by a panel of experts discussing the role that alcohol and drugs play in mental health. It featured faculty presenter Stacey Daughters, Ph.D. and panelists Wendy Kadens, Dean Blackburn, and Heather Gallagher.
- Mental Health, Spirituality and Faith: How Do They Connect? - Aaron Bachenheimer, executive cirector of Off-Campus Student Life and liaison to Carolina’s Campus Ministers, facilitated the dialogue. The conversation was framed by a diverse panel of experts discussing the role that spirituality and faith can play in mental health. Panelists included Elizabeth Harrison, Rabbi Melissa Simon, Simon Stokes, Imam Abdul Hafeez Waheed, and Rev. Mary Cat Young.
Mental Health Seminar Playlist
All videos will play chronologically in this playlist or you can select the seminar desired.
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