Personal, professional, and academic work-life integration may feel challenging at times. Free student counseling services are offered with the Student Counseling Services staff. This confidential service is available through appointment.

If you need to schedule an appointment, email scs@tun.touro.edu or call 702-777-9971.

If this is your first time or your thousandth time, Monday Meditation is a good place to grow your practice. Each week we offer a guided meditation. The group discusses meditation, the benefits, and reviews relevant apps and methods to enhance practice. All Touro staff, faculty, students, and their significant supports are welcome to join. No experience with meditation is needed. Bring an open mind and a desire to enrich your life.

Monday Meditation is every Monday at Noon. 

Koru Mindfulness is an evidence-based meditation practice that aims to “give participants tools for quickly reducing distress… [and] emphasizes cultivating positive emotions like self-compassion and gratitude.” Koru Mindfulness was developed with consideration for the challenges that emerging adults often face. Its title, Koru, is derived from a New Zealand Maori word that signifies balanced growth.

If you would like to participate, email tun.koru@touro.edu.

Student Counseling Services provides opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to receive training and earn certificates in the following areas:

• Mental Health Wellness and Knowledge
• Violence Intervention and Prevention:  Creating Safe Communities Program for Medical/Health Professionals
• Changing Environment of Opiates and Cannabis
• Understanding Implicit Bias

The certificate programs are co-sponsored by campus and community organizations such as the Rainbow Health Coalition, the Rape Crisis Center, Neurology and Psychiatry Student Interest Group, Student Osteopathic Medical Association, and Alcohol and Other Drug Committee. 

TUN receives grant-funding from SAMHSA’s Garret Lee Smith Campus Suicide Prevention Grant, which focuses on enhancing mental health services for college students struggling with serious mental illness/emotional distress and substance abuse. TUN is committed to addressing the prevalence and severity of mental illness among medical students by growing the institution’s infrastructure and network of mental-health and substance-abuse treatment resources and services, and increasing the capacity of resiliency, emotional well-being, and mental health of all TUN students, including those traditionally underserved and underperforming student groups.

The grant allows us to host programming for the Touro Nevada community. 

Touro University Nevada’s Student Counseling Services has partnered with Aura, a personalized mindfulness and meditation app company, to bring each member of the campus community a free subscription.

The award-winning app offers thousands of mindfulness meditations, life coaching, sleep stories, and psychoeducation from coaches around the world. Aura gives you the personalized support to help with stress, anxiety, sleep, personal growth, and more.

Here’s how you redeem your free subscription from Aura:

1. Visit the Aura website (https://app.aurahealth.io/redeem/touro).

2. You must use your Touro University Nevada email address.

3. Follow the directions to download the app and log in.

Graduate school can be challenging for partners, friends, and families alike. Your supporters deserve to feel supported. TUN happily invites all behind the scenes contributors to connect with one another through the Plus One Program. The Plus One initiative gives your loved ones a safe space of their own to relate, release, and recharge, whether it is your intimate partner, your best friend, or your roommate.  We offer virtual events and chats for all Plus Ones in the TUN community to thrive together.

It's Wednesday Wellness again, and Student Counseling Services is sharing another resource to help you prioritize and nurture your emotional well-being.

Anxiety is not just in your mind.  It's manifested in your body.  Activating your parasympathetic system results in a decrease in fight, flight, and freeze responses and an increase in resiliency.  Take 15 minutes to watch this valuable video.  Learn the following 4 strategies and how they work. 

1.  Deep Breathing and Vagal Tone
2.  Softening of Eyes and Peripheral Vision
3. The Valsalva Maneuver
4. The Yawn

Turn off Anxiety in Your Nervous System: 4 Ways to Turn on the Parasympathetic Response - YouTube

Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to identify and regulate our own emotions, to recognize the emotions of other people and feel empathy toward them, and to use these abilities to communicate effectively and build healthy, productive relationships with others.  Some experts believe that this ability is more important in determining life success than IQ alone.

Some different ways to practice emotional intelligence in your daily life include:

• Being able to accept criticism and responsibility
• Being able to move on after making a mistake
• Being able to say no when you need to
• Being able to share your feelings with others
• Being able to solve problems in ways that work for everyone
• Having empathy for other people
• Having great listening skills
• Knowing why you do the things you do
• Not being judgmental of others

Student Counseling Services invites you to explore the following resources to learn more about Emotional Intelligence.  

EI-ASSESSMENT.pdf (nodc.org)

Improving Emotional Intelligence (EQ) - HelpGuide.org

Emotional Intelligence | Psychology Today

What Is Emotional Intelligence? (verywellmind.com)

Stress is inevitable. Burnout isn’t.  When we get to the point of no longer being able to cope, we are “burned out,” like a candle.  Stress management can offer tools to help us avoid the unpleasant experience of burnout.  Explore these ideas to discover what combination works best for you. 

Action-Orientated Approaches allow you to act and change the stressful situation.

• Be assertive.  Clear and effective communication is the key to being assertive. When we’re assertive, we can ask for what we want or need or explain what is bothering us in a fair and firm manner while still having empathy for others. 

You can read more about how to be assertive here.

• Reduce the noise.  Switching off all the technology, screen time, and constant stimuli can help us slow down. Make time for some quietness each day. Remember that recharging is a very effective way of tackling stress.
• Manage your time.  When we prioritize and organize our tasks, we create a less stressful and more enjoyable life.
• Create boundaries.  They outline what behaviors we will and won’t accept, how much time and space we need from others, and what priorities we have.  Having healthy boundaries is a way respect ourselves and take care of our well-being when we clearly communicate them to others.

Emotion-Orientated Approaches are used to change the way we perceive stressful situations.

• Affirmations and imagery.  The power of positive imagery and affirmations is now scientifically proven to increase positive emotion.  When you think of a positive experience, your brain perceives it to be a reality.
• ABC Technique was originally created by psychologist Dr. Albert Ellis and was later adapted by Martin Seligman.  The letters ABC stand for; A – adversity, or the stressful event. B – beliefs, or the way that you respond to the event. Then C – consequences, the result of your beliefs leads to the actions and outcome of that event.  Essentially, the more optimistic your beliefs, the more positive the outcome.

Acceptance-Orientated Approaches are useful in stressful situations that you cannot control.

• Diet and Exercise.  Be mindful of having a balanced and healthy diet. Making simple diet changes, such as reducing your alcohol, caffeine and sugar intake is a proven way of reducing anxiety  Another great way to reduce stress is exercise. It’s often as effective as antidepressants in relieving mild depression.
• Meditation and physical relaxation.  Try techniques such as deep breathing, visualizations, yoga, and guided body scans meditations. These activities can help relax the body and create more awareness in the present moment.  Student Counseling Services' Koru Mindfulness Basic Course is an excellent way to get started in your personal mindfulness practice.
• Talk it out.  Don’t hold it all inside. Talk to someone you trust about your thoughts and feelings.  Sharing worries can cut them in half and give you a chance to laugh at potentially absurd situations.  If you don’t feel up to sharing, writing them down is another great way to release them. You can also seek support through a mental health professional.  
• Student Counseling Services are free, and you can contact us at SCS@tun.touro.edu. 
• As a student you are eligible and can reach the TUN Employee Assistance Program at 800-865-1044.
• Sleep.  Getting a good night sleep is fundamental for recharging and dealing with stressful situations.  Most adults require between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each night.  

How you feel can affect your ability to carry out everyday activities, your relationships, and your overall mental health. Emotional wellness is the ability to successfully handle life’s stresses and adapt to change and difficult times. 

BRIGHTEN YOUR OUTLOOK 

People who are emotionally well have fewer negative emotions and can bounce back from challenges quicker. Resilience.  Another sign of emotional wellness is being able to hold onto positive emotions longer.

To develop a more positive mindset:

Remember your good deeds.

Forgive yourself.

Spend more time with friends.

Explore your beliefs about the meaning and purpose of life.

Develop healthy physical habits.  

REDUCE STRESS

Stress can give you a boost of energy when you need it most.  But if stress lasts a long time—a condition known as chronic stress—the physical changes can become harmful rather than helpful.  Learning healthy ways to cope with stress can also boost your resilience.

To help manage your stress: 

Get enough sleep.

Exercise regularly.

Build a social support network.

Set priorities.

Think positively.  

Try relaxation methods.

Seek professional support.  

GET QUALITY SLEEP

To fit everything in that we need to get done in a day we often sacrifice sleep.  But sleep is vital to both our physical and mental health.  

To increase your sleep quality:

Go to bed and get up each day at the same time.

Sleep in a dark, cool, quiet place.

Exercise daily.

Limit the use of electronics.

Relax before bedtime.

Avoid alcohol, nicotine, and stimulants late in the day.