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 open for the Spring 2024 semester. Groups will begin the week of February 4. Sign up by going to www.tinyurl.com/projectconnect2024.

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 should I expect if I join Project Connect?

  • 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. 

What are past participants saying about Project Connect?

  • 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.

How can you become a Mental Health Rep?

Applications for the MHRs are open! You can apply at www.tinyurl.com/TuftsMHR2024. Applications are due on March 11 at 10am.

Our 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.

                                                                            

Mental Health Mini Grants

The Mental Health Mini Grant awards small grants (up to $500) to Tufts faculty, staff, and students who are part of the Medford/Somerville/SMFA campus to lead initiatives that promote mental health and emotional well-being.

All proposals must align with the CMHS mission to:

  • Prevent and address behavioral and mental health challenges
  • Raise awareness
  • Promote personal growth, wellbeing, resiliency, self-acceptance, and/or interpersonal effectiveness
  • Promote campus resources for mental health and emotional wellbeing
  • Demonstrate a shared campus responsibility for mental health and emotional wellbeing
  • Support a campus culture that recognizes mental health as a priority

Grant Criteria

Grant proposals must:

  • Serve a population of Tufts students
  • Engage students in mental health promotion (i.e., a program, event, or initiative) that focuses on at least one of the following:
    • Action-oriented
    • Community-building
    • Communicates a message about mental health
  • Include a detailed budget
  • Uplift Tufts’ priorities to enhance diversity, inclusion, and sustainability

Grant awardees must:

  • Agree to share learnings and outcomes
  • Use the CMHS Mental Health Mini Grant logo on promotional and other distributed materials
  • Add your event/program to the Tufts calendar with the “Nutrition and Wellness” tag

Please note that grant money cannot be used for:

  • Stipends or gifts (but can be used for speaker fees)
  • Individual conference attendance
  • Off-campus meals
  • Payment for students' work (i.e., paying a student for their time creating an event or program)

Apply Today!

Apply for the CMHS Mental Health Mini Grant! Please email Erica Schonman if you have any questions or concerns.

                                                                                          

Mental Health and Wellbeing Fair

CMHS will be hosting a Mental Health and Wellbeing Fair on Wednesday, October 4 from 11am-2pm at the Joyce Cummings Center (first floor)

Different departments will be hosting interactive and engaging booths that aim to help attendees learn about skills and resources to benefit their mental and emotional health. There will also be free food, therapy dogs, and prizes for attending!

Stay tuned for more details!

                                                                  

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 will be offered for the spring semester at the following dates and times:

  • Sundays from 11am-12:15pm (1/21, 1/28, 2/4, 2/11) in Tisch Library (Room 226, Austin Conference Room)
  • Sundays from 5pm-6:15pm (1/21, 1/28, 2/4, 2/11) in Tisch Library (Room 226, Austin Conference Room)
  • Sundays from 11am-12:15pm (2/18, 2/25, 3/3, 3/10) in Tisch Library (Room 226, Austin Conference Room)
  • Sundays from 5pm-6:15pm (2/18, 2/25, 3/3, 3/10) in Tisch Library (Room 226, Austin Conference Room)

Sign up at www.tinyurl.com/tuftsmindfulnessspring2024

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 will be offered for the fall semester at the following dates and times:

  • Tuesdays from 7pm-8:15pm (2/6, 2/13, 2/20, 2/27) in Tisch Fitness Center (Multipurpose Room)
  • Tuesdays from 7pm-8:15pm (3/26, 4/2, 4/9, 4/16) in Tisch Fitness Center (Multipurpose Room)

Sign up at www.tinyurl.com/sampspring2024

                                                               

Other Programming

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