April is Stress Awareness Month and Counseling Awareness Month; resources available year-round

Each year, Stress Awareness Month and Counseling Awareness Month are recognized in April; both are intended to raise awareness and share information about common behavioral health topics.

Stress Awareness Month

The Health Resource Network Inc. has sponsored Stress Awareness Month every April since 1992. Throughout the month, Purdue University will share information about the dangers of stress, misconceptions about stress in today’s society and resources for developing successful coping strategies. Though these topics are emphasized in April, there are many resources available to help today and every day.

For instance, the Healthy Boiler Portal provides several short courses on a variety of stress-related topics under the “University” tab, including:

• What is Stress?
• Healthy Strategies for Coping with Stress
• Stress Basics
• Stress Management
• Stress Relief: Exercise
• Stress Relief: Meditate
• Stress Relief: Play
• Stress Relief: Sleep 

Those who have not yet registered to access the portal can do so by following the instructions available in the Healthy Boiler Guide. 

Additionally, SupportLinc, the behavioral health services provider for the West Lafayette campus, offers helpful information to help with stress management, including:  

• Color Breathing Exercise for Stress Relief
• Common Reactions to Extreme Stress
• Don’t Let Job Stress Make You Sick
• Flash Course: Stress Management
• In the Moment Stress Relief Tools
• Mindfulness for Managing Stress
• Pain and Stress
• Reducing the Intensity of Stress

The National Institutes of Health also offers the following resources for individuals to help them effectively cope when feeling stressed or experiencing anxiety:

• Reducing Stress
• Getting to Know Your Brain: Dealing with Stress
• I’m So Stressed Out! Fact Sheet

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also has resources like their guide on Coping with Stress.

Counseling Awareness Month

The American Counseling Association (ACA) shares that “professional counselors help people gain personal insights, develop strategies and come up with real-life solutions to the problems and challenges they face in every area of life.” The ACA sponsors Counseling Awareness Month with the goal of celebrating the counselors who provide this important service.

Here are a handful of resources about counseling and the benefits it can offer from the ACA, Mental Health America, Bear River Mental Health Services and Montare Behavioral Health:

• Counseling Impact
• Types of Mental Health Professionals
• Therapy
• How Does Counseling Help Mental Health?
• 8 Benefits of Mental Health Counseling

All benefits-eligible Purdue employees and dependents covered on a Purdue health plan have access to counseling services, including talk therapy, via the behavioral health services provider for their respective campus (West Lafayette, Purdue Fort Wayne, Purdue Northwest, Purdue Global). These resources are available at no cost to the employee and support the behavioral health pillar of the Healthy Boiler Wellness Program.

ADDITIONAL MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES

To assist faculty and staff

Faculty and staff can review the “Mental Health Resources” webpage for more information about mental health and substance abuse resources offered through their Purdue health plan. 

To assist students

Faculty and staff who work with students or have a student at home can direct them to the resources below for behavioral health assistance. Note: United Healthcare Student Resources (UHCSR) — the medical plan provider for students and graduate students — offers access to 292 unique, in-network mental health providers within Tippecanoe County. The list is available here. Additionally, students have access to HealthiestYou, which provides virtual access to mental health care as part of UHCSR’s plan. All services are free for students covered under the UHCSR insurance plan.   

Office of the Dean of Students

• Continuous Network of Support
• Services and Information
• Presentations & Trainings
• Student of Concern Reporting Link

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)

• Therapy Services at CAPS
• Group Therapy
• CAPS YouTube channel
• NAMI On Campus – A free, virtual support group on campus.
• Thriving Campus – A service that allows students to search for mental health providers locally and across the country.
• TAO – A web- and app-based mental health resource for students