Programming and Outreach

Workshops

CMHS offers the following non-clinical workshops for your class, club, or meeting:

• Introduction to CMHS: An overview of CMHS, our services, and accessing care. This workshop can be led by professional staff or by the Mental Health Reps.
• Stress Management Workshop: A highly interactive workshop for Tufts undergraduate or graduate students that covers the basics of stress, coping strategies, and tips for overcoming procrastination. This workshop can be led by professional staff or by the Mental Health Reps.
• How to Help a Friend: A highly interactive workshop for Tufts undergraduate students, led by the Mental Health Reps, that covers how to help a peer you're worried about. 
• Good Vibes Only?: A highly interactive workshop for undergraduate and graduate students about embracing and coping with a wide range of emotions, as well as challenging the "good vibes only" mentality. This workshop can be led by professional staff or by the Mental Health Reps.
• Building Resilience: A highly interactive workshop for undergraduate and graduate students about concrete skills for increasing resilience when dealing with tough situations and interpersonal conflict. This workshop is led by professional staff.
• Helping Students in Distress for Faculty and Staff: A highly interactive workshop led by professional staff about helping graduate and undergraduate students in distress. 

You can request a workshop here. Looking for something else? Reach out to Erica Schonman to inquire.

Project Connect

Project Connect enrollment is closed for the Spring 2024 semester. 

Want to form deeper connections, build friendships, and meet new people? Sign-up for a Project Connect group! Project Connect groups are peer-led groups of about 4-6 students that meet weekly for one hour a week for 6 weeks. Dive into conversation, answer thought-provoking questions, and learn more about yourself and fellow Jumbos!

What to Expect

• Thought-provoking questions intentionally designed to build connection, like "What do you know now that you wish you had known when you were younger?, "What important decision have you based largely on your gut feelings?," and "Five years from now, what will you wish you had spent more or less time on in the present?" 
• Community-connection projects like creating posters for residential or academic buildings, writing notes to fellow Jumbos who have influenced your Tufts journey, or painting rocks with encouraging messages
• A snack or meal (paid for by CMHS!) to hang out with your group and connect casually. 

Testimonials

• 87% of participants would recommend Project Connect to a friend
• 80% plan to hang out with someone they met through Project Connect
• Participants shared the most meaningful part of their experience. They said:
  • "That I got a space to share my views with really enthusiastic people"
  • "The questions for the group were interesting and thought provoking"
  • "Getting to know more people outside of my cohort"

Mental Health Reps

The Mental Health Reps (MHRs) are a group of dedicated students who serve as a liaison between CMHS and the student body. The Mental Health Reps work directly with CMHS staff to help advocate for mental health support, reduce stigma, and promote mental and emotional well-being. They receive training from CMHS staff and other public health professionals about mental health promotion, and they will have the opportunity to create programming to directly help students at Tufts.

The Mental Health Reps are housed in CMHS and supervised by the Mental Health Promotion Specialist. The MHRs are not a peer counseling group and do not lead any clinical or therapeutic groups. If you would like to work with the Mental Health Reps or have a question about the group, please email mentalhealthreps@tufts.edu.

Applications

Applications for the MHRs will open in Spring 2025. 

2023-2024 Mental Health Reps

Qing C

Class of 2024, Computer Science, Biotechnology

I applied to become a Mental Health Rep because I grew up in an environment where mental health and mental issues were not openly talked about, and I wanted to become more knowledgeable about topics related to mental health and self-care while also contributing to the effort of reducing stigma around mental health and having conversations about it.

The areas that I am most interested in are promoting self-reflection, managing and processing loneliness and negative feelings, and reducing stigma around mental health.

Grace Jung

Class of 2024, Clinical Psychology, Biochemistry

The importance of mental health is often overlooked and stigmatized against. I became a Mental Health Rep to advocate for the mental health of fellow Tufts students and promote support resources available on campus. 

I am most interested in studying psychopathology and treatment of psychological disorders.

Rebecca Quaye

Class of 2024, Child Study and Human Development

I became a Mental Health Rep to advocate for more access and resources for minority groups both at Tufts and in the community.

I am very interested in how our mental health is shaped by our identity, environment, and social lives. Music and books are also art forms that I like to explore and understand how our mental health impacts what we indulge in and why.

Sarah Syed

Class of 2024, Community Health and Psychology

I joined mental health reps to be part of the change at Tufts that advocates healthy emotional and mental health practices. Mental health has grown in importance in my life, and I want to do my part to share all that I know and be an active and supportive community member.

Jed Quiaoit

Class of 2025, Biomedical & Chemical Engineering majors, Entrepreneurship & Engineering Management minors

I became a Mental Health Rep to uplift the same community (Jumbos!) that welcomed me with open arms when I transitioned from the West Coast to the Northeast. I also want to promote CMHS and other student-run mental health empowerment initiatives that are under-utilized here at Tufts!

I'm most interested in mindfulness and the various dimensions of self-care.

Regina Agyemang

Class of 2026, Biopsychology major

I became a Mental Health Rep to help diminish the stigma of mental health especially in minority groups.

I'm most interested in public health education and health equity pertaining to all minority groups.

Trey Lawrence

Class of 2026, Biology and Political Science majors

I joined Mental Health Reps to promote the resources available to students to help normalize tackling mental health issues.

I'm most interested in finding ways to manage stress.

Emily Sullivan

Class of 2026, Clinical Psychology and English majors

I became a Mental Health Rep because I am passionate about raising mental health awareness. I think that reducing stigma is important for everyone's general health, so I wanted to be a part of that on the Tufts campus.

I am most interested in psychopathology and cultural influences on mental health.                                     

Mindfulness Programming

Introduction to Mindfulness Classes

Introduction to Mindfulness® is a four-week introduction to the practice of Mindfulness. It is offered to Tufts students for free. You will learn several tools, including meditation, breathing exercises, guided imagery, the body scan and more. Each of these practices are designed to deepen self-reflection, help you manage stress and enrich your life. The sessions meet in person once per week for 4 consecutive weeks. Attendance at all four weeks is required.

Classes for the 2023-2024 academic year have ended. Check back in the fall for updates and class offerings! 

Student-Athlete Mindfulness Project (SAMP)

The Student-Athlete Mindfulness Project (SAMP) is a program designed by student-athletes for student-athletes. SAMP aims to help student-athletes perform at a higher level in their sport, while navigating the daily stress and pressures of being a collegiate student-athlete. Many alumni of the program say that the weekly meditations and mindfulness techniques they learned have helped relieve stress, improve sleep, and benefit overall mental and emotional health.

All SAMP participants will receive pizza before each meeting, a free, 1-year subscription to Headspace, and a mindfulness journal. 

Classes for the 2023-2024 academic year have ended. Check back in the fall for updates and class offerings! 

Feeling OK Challenge

It's normal to struggle with tough emotions, like uncertainty, comparison, anger, and regret. But these types of feelings are inevitable, and there are strategies to make them feel more manageable and less overwhelming. The Feeling OK Challenge is a free, 6-week email challenge to help you learn how. Plus, you can enter to win prizes each week for trying the tips we share in each weekly email.

Beginning on November 6, participants will receive a weekly email with strategies for coping with feelings that we feel on a regular basis, but might be uncomfortable, scary, or stigmatized. The goal isn’t to eliminate tough feelings from your life completely, but to better understand and utilize them. Each coping technique is brief, and tailored to fit into busy student lives. 

Sign up at tinyurl.com/feelingokfall2023