7 6 GREETINGS! Dear Colleagues, Warmest greetings from the Counseling and Wellness Center! We are grateful that for many years, you have been our partners in promoting the mental health and well-being of our students. As the student population increases and their life grows in complexity, we need to refresh our cooperative endeavour. We hope this guide would provide some directions in recognizing and managing our students’ personal difficulties, and equip you with the ability and readiness to prevent, detect and handle these difficulties. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this guide. We believe you are in a unique position as an excellent observer to notice and assist in the early stages of emotional distress among the students you have direct or indirect contact with. Our joint effort is indispensable for building a caring, nurturing and stigma-free learning environment! Promoting Student Mental Health: A State of Well-being INTRODUCTION Mental health is a crucial element for a fruitful university life of students. It is the responsibility of all university staff to promote mental well-being and incorporate relevant practices as part of the regular institutional operations. It is also the university’s goal to develop a supportive, accepting and well-informed university community that respects all individuals in the promotion of mental health and well-being. Based on our clinical experience, we have found that academic, interpersonal and emotional problems faced by students are becoming more complicated and severe, thus rendering their management more challenging. Thorough understanding in handling problematic and critical incidents is therefore essential and beneficial because it guides our coordinated efforts to address student issues. Effective communication, coordination and cooperation among relevant units and personnel in our University are necessary. Together, let us: • Make proactive and strategic decisions to respond to students in distress and at potential risks; • Implement theoretically-grounded and empirically-validated interventions through psychoeducation, mental health training, prevention programs, and timely assistance for high-risk students; and • Establish a comprehensive institutional approach to foster a healthy and respectful learning environment by delivering a spectrum of psychological services, to deploy resources for authentic impacts, as well as to revise administrative practices that can deliver clear information for internal and external constituents. Promoting Student Mental Health: A State of Well-being “Mental health is a crucial element for a fruitful university life of students.”
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