Virtual Wellness Circles for Graduate and Professional Students: Session 3- Fostering Resilience Through the Power of the Personal Narrative

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 3- Fostering Resilience Through the Power of the Personal Narrative

We all have a story we believe about our lives. But is our life story helping us or hindering us? Are we stuck in a story on repeat, playing out old patterns time and again or are we using our most creative selves to choose the path that leads us to thrive and live our most authentic truth.

During this session, participants will

·         be able to identify how they are framing their life

·         recognize how they tell the story of their challenges and adversity

·         learn how their story impacts their emotional wellbeing

·         identify the roles they are trapped in that are no longer serving them

·         learn how to move past surviving to thriving by transforming their personal narrative