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绿茶直播

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Federal Grant Expands Mental Health Supports at Augsburg

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Students talk and study in the hallway of the Hagfors CenterLike many colleges, 绿茶直播 has seen a rise in demand for mental health services in recent years. But despite the growing need, students who are BIPOC, low-income, or first-generation often experience unique barriers to seeking help with mental health or substance use issues.聽

鈥淭wo of the gifts of our community鈥攐ur diverse student body and our location in the heart of Minneapolis鈥攎ean that a 鈥榦ne-size fits all鈥� approach to mental health doesn鈥檛 work here at Augsburg,鈥� said Michael Grewe, dean of students. 鈥淢any of our students come from immigrant communities that have experienced multiple forms of oppression and trauma, and our campus sits just a few miles from where George Floyd was murdered in 2020. This translates to a significant need not only for trauma-informed mental health services but also for a trauma-informed campus community.鈥�

Augsburg recently received a grant of nearly $300,000 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to improve students鈥� ability to access culturally relevant mental health and substance use prevention and intervention services. The grant will support the Auggie Well-Being project, an initiative to promote help-seeking and reduce stigma among underrepresented and under-resourced students.聽聽

Systemic barriers to seeking help can stem from cultural stigma, fear of discrimination, past experiences of discrimination or criminalization, lack of comfort with Western mental health care systems, or lack of awareness about mental health challenges that could benefit from counseling or other interventions. The Auggie Well-being project calls for outreach, training, and community programming to address these barriers. Over the three years of the grant, Augsburg will:聽

  • Educate students about mental health concepts and services through campus-wide and targeted promotion initiatives in multiple languages, including Spanish, Hmong, and Somali.
  • Implement required training for faculty, staff, and student leaders on evidence-based strategies to identify and respond to mental health or substance use-related issues.
  • Promote help-seeking behavior and reduce stigma through programming on culturally relevant mental health and wellness frameworks and resources.聽

鈥淥ur goal is ultimately to normalize and make it easier to ask for help, especially for our students with complex challenges,鈥� said Grewe.聽

Augsburg is one of 30 institutions nationally to receive a grant in 2024 through SAMHSA鈥檚 GLS Campus Suicide Prevention Grant Program. The program aims to support a comprehensive public health and evidence-based approach that enhances behavioral health services for all college students, including those at risk for suicide, depression, serious mental illness/serious emotional disturbances, and/or substance use disorders that can lead to school failure; prevents and reduces suicide and mental and substance use disorders; promotes help-seeking behavior and reduces stigma; and improves the identification and treatment of at-risk college students so they can successfully complete their studies. SAMHSA, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, leads public health efforts to advance behavioral health.

Continuing Ed Series Equips Teachers to Support Students鈥� Mental Health

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Teachers play an increasingly critical role in supporting mental health needs among children and youth. A new set of continuing education courses from 绿茶直播 aims to ensure that they have the resources and training to do so in a transformative and culturally responsive way.

The Certificate in Supporting Student Mental Health for K-12 Teachers, offered by Augsburg鈥檚 Center for Adult and Continuing Education, provides K-12 educators an equity-based approach to mental health, trauma, and social-emotional learning. Each self-paced, online, on-demand course meets state continuing education requirements for maintaining licensure.

The three modules can be taken individually (4 hours each) or altogether (12 hours total). Teachers who complete all three courses will receive the Supporting Student Mental Health for K-12 Teachers certificate.

  • Understanding Mental Health and Suicide Prevention聽provides an overview of the history of mental health care; signs and symptoms of mental illness in children and adolescents; how to recognize and minimize mental illness stigma; and resources available for teachers, students, families, and caregivers focused on recovery and suicide prevention.
  • Trauma-Informed Practices for K-12 Classrooms聽helps teachers build a foundation to create a safe learning space for students who have experienced chronic stress and trauma; recognize the symptoms of trauma and its relationship to mental illness; and promote healing in the classroom.
  • Transformative Social and Emotional Learning聽guides participants through a social and emotional learning framework that is rooted in equity, identity, belonging, and community justice. It is designed to help teachers move beyond teaching and modeling competencies to a place of reflective practice that focuses on examining educational conditions.

The series honors the legacy of the late Claudia Murray, a sophomore psychology major and midfielder on the Augsburg women鈥檚 soccer team who passed away unexpectedly in 2022. Generous support from the Murray family will provide a 50% discount to the first 100 participants.

鈥淲e were offered a beautiful opportunity with this gift and we aimed to create enriching courses by collaborating with both on and off campus experts,鈥� said Jennifer Diaz, associate professor and chair of Augsburg鈥檚 Department of Education. 鈥淲e are excited about what the courses have to offer educators working to value and meet students where they are across their diverse and complex lived experiences.鈥�

Drawing on Augsburg鈥檚 outstanding faculty and centers of expertise, the Center for Adult and Continuing Education offers a growing number of live, online, and on-demand courses. For more information or to register, visit the CACE website.

鈥淧eople Do Their Own Healing鈥�: Minnesota Women鈥檚 Press Features Prof. Melissa Hensley

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The Minnesota Women鈥檚 Press recently featured an editorial by Melissa Hensley, associate professor of social work, on the value of peer support to reduce stigma in social service settings. The essay was part of a larger issue dedicated to stigma and addiction.

Hensley, who also serves as field director for Augsburg鈥檚 bachelor of social work program, spent many years as a provider of services to adults with serious and persistent mental illness in a residential setting.

鈥淧eer supporters, who use their own experiences with addiction or mental health to help guide others, are an example of person-centered care … [They] fill gaps in traditional mental health services by providing essential knowledge about the recovery process, such as how to cope with symptoms, develop healthy relationships, and balance employment,鈥� she writes.

鈥淪ocial workers like myself need to understand that our role is not to 鈥渇ix what is wrong.鈥� People do their own healing, and our job is to offer tools and resources.鈥�