Mental Health Activities

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training program

The MHFA training program offered by UniWiND is an innovative educational initiative that has already trained over four million first responders worldwide. The is specifically designed to help supervisors/advisors and support staff at graduate institutions to recognize, address, and support the mental health crises of doctoral candidates and postdocs with a focus on depression, anxiety disorders, psychosis, as well as substance abuse and addiction.

At CLICCS we have several MHFA trained supervisors and support staff. Please contact Sebastian Zubrzycki (MHF-aider) for more details.

Webinars

• Perfectionism & Imposter Syndrome
  We argue that our perfectionism drives us to great heights, to excel, and to maintain our edge. We rarely stop to see the costs it carries. Imposter syndrome distorts the way we see ourselves, our performance, and our capabilities. Both reflect our doubts and fears – fear of being judged, fear of failing, fear of not being good enough, fear of not belonging. They are the product of distorted thinking patterns that we can change.
• Motivation & Procrastination
  Procrastination is a way of easing our own discomfort. Discomfort because the task is too hard, too boring, too big, too scary. The difficulty with procrastinating is that it makes you feel better for a moment but it does nothing to fix the reason the task feels uncomfortable to begin with. It is still too big, too hard, too scary, or too boring the next time you sit down to do it. And so the cycle repeats.
• The Power of Saying No
  When everything feels like an opportunity, a priority, or an obligation, how do we say no? The truth is we cannot start saying no until we get clear on why we keep saying yes to everything.
• Parenting and academia: managing the mental load
  How do we juggle work life balance when “life” comes with such a huge mental load? When the family to-do list is three times as long as the work to-do list and it seems you are always the one that has to remember everything? The thinking part of having children is permanent and it is exhausting. How can we thrive at work while navigating the worry and guilt of managing a family at home? How do we learn to share the planning and management of our homes effectively instead of just delegating tasks? It is possible.
• Managing conflict
  Conflict is a part of any relationship. And is more frequent when, like in academia, stress is high and resources scarce. How we navigate conflict is what matters most.
• Taming the inner critic
  We all have an inner voice in our heads. It is an essential part of what makes us human and it is designed to help us navigate the world and to keep us safe. The problem is, in order to keep us safe it tends to focus on the negatives, the perceived threats, and all the possible ways that we might mess up, fall down, or embarrass ourselves

In addition, during the Covid pandemic we offered very valuable webinars in the following to support the mental health of all status groups at SICSS.

• Navigating Uncertainty during COVID times
  Academic life is a precarious one for many. COVID has exacerbated this experience significantly. Learn how to give yourself permission (to be where you are and feel what you feel!), navigate uncertainty and worry, make micro-changes to maintain a solid emotional and mental foundation and fill your bucket when life is constantly emptying it.
• Isolation & belonging
  Academic life can be an isolating experience for many people. For many, the role requires you to live far from home and those you love; for many, the workload demands can impact significantly on your ability to socialize and maintain relationships. Among other things, we explore some of the many sources of isolation and loneliness inherent in our system, why it is so bad for us - the answer to which lies in our sense of belonging and identity - and how we can begin to change it.
• Shifting the spotlight
  This pandemic has brought many of our work and lifestyle choices into sharp focus. People are starting to question their purpose and where they find meaning in their work and their lives. In this webinar, we will explore, among other things, using our values as a compass and seeing our strengths, not just our weaknesses.