Virtual Wellness Circles for Graduate and Professional Students: Session 1- Fostering Resilience Through a Personalized Wellness Plan

Graduate and professional students experience numerous stressors throughout their degree programs. Intense research pressure, financial difficulties, uncertainty about the job market, relationships and family pressures are just a few examples. This is further compounded by the ongoing global COVID 19 pandemic. While stress is a normal part of life, exposure to elevated levels of stress can accumulate and result a buildup of allostatic load. Graduate students are particularly vulnerable to the adverse health effects that result from allostatic load build up. To reduce and manage high allostatic load, it is important to engage in activities that reduce stress and foster resilience. Please consider joining Shahnaz Khawaja, Assistant Director of Resilience and Recovery Strategies in the office of Student Wellness in a Virtual Wellness Circle.

 

Session 1- Fostering Resilience Through a Personalized Wellness Plan

Stress usually shows unannounced. It is easier to cope with stress when you have a plan in place to manage it. Come and learn about how ‘you’ personally manage stress. Are your choices effective or are you using dysfunctional ways of coping?

During this session, participants will

·         learn about the 8 dimensions of wellness and how they impact overall wellbeing

·         name and identify unhealthy coping mechanisms

·         generate more effective and healthy coping mechanisms to counter daily stress

·         use personal values to develop a personalized wellness plan