Wellness Groups, Events & Trainings

We offer a number of student-only, multi-session wellness groups and one-time events. These aim to provide participants with the opportunity to learn skills to improve their health and well-being while also connecting with other students and health professionals.

Calendar

Student-Only Wellness Groups

These are facilitated by health care professionals and run 6 to 8 weeks depending on the group. These groups are offered both in the fall and winter terms, starting in October and February.

Email counselling.services@queensu.ca for more information.

This psycho-education group is for students who are experiencing symptoms of depression and/or anxiety that feel overwhelming. You will learn how to better understand the signs of anxiety and/or depression and find evidence-based strategies to help you cope. Sessions will focus on identifying and changing unhelpful thought patterns and learning ways to live a more balanced and satisfying life. You will also learn strategies to manage university well while turning down the volume on anxiety/depression.

At the end of this group you will:

Learn the causes of anxiety/depression and discover proven strategies to reduce symptoms
Start to implement your own behavioural strategies to help you feel less anxious and/or depressed
Discover the link between thoughts, emotions and actions plus find ways to manage them
Learn how to let go of worries and change your responses to anxiety and/or depression triggers over time
Gain practical sleep hygiene strategies

A support group run by 2SLGBTQ+ Counselor Shannon Gendron, and Sexual and Gender Diversity Advisor Kel Martin. Open to trans, nonbinary, Two-spirit, agender, genderqueer, genderfluid and other non-cisgender students at Queen’s. This group runs monthly and involves discussion sharing of gender-diverse experiences, and occasionally engages in social activities and field trips that focus on gender-diverse topics.

Visit the Yellow House events calendar to register

A drop-in group for first year students who are looking to find support, connection or to participate in conversations/activities that help them navigate stressors and/or difficulties experienced by those living in residence.

This professionally facilitated therapy Sharing Circle is open to all Self-Identified Indigenous Queen’s students currently living in Ontario who are struggling to manage overwhelming emotions. It is designed to help you deal with crises and teaches you to manage unhelpful behaviours. This Circle infuses Indigenous Knowledge/Teachings with Western ways of coping with mental health challenges.

At the end of this Circle, you will:

Learn why you may be struggling to manage your emotions
Learn to describe and understand the function of your emotions so you can better regulate them
Find ways to reduce your tendency to get swept away by overwhelming emotions
Discover ways to implement concrete strategies, including mindfulness, to improve your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours so that you are no longer feeling overwhelmed

Visit the Four Directions Indigenous Student Centre events calendar to register.

This psycho-educational group is for students who experience stress and anxiety that feels overwhelming. You will learn how to better understand signs and symptoms of anxiety and find evidence-based strategies to help you cope. Sessions will focus on identifying and changing unhelpful thought patterns, and learning ways to live a happier, more balanced and satisfying life.

At the end of this group, you will:

Learn causes of anxiety and proven strategies to reduce symptoms
Start to implement your own behavioural strategies to help you feel less anxious
Discover the link between thoughts and emotions and find ways to manage them
Learn how to let go of worries and change your responses to anxiety triggers over time
Gain practical sleep hygiene strategies.

This professionally facilitated therapy group is for students who are struggling to manage overwhelming emotions. It is designed to help you deal with crises and teaches you to control unhelpful behaviours.

At the end of this group, you will learn:

Why you may be struggling to manage your emotions
To describe and understand the function of your emotions so you can better regulate them
How to reduce your tendency to get swept away by overwhelming emotions
How to implement concrete strategies, including mindfulness, to improve your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours so that you are no longer feeling overwhelmed

This psychoeducation group is for students who want to stop dieting, let go of diet culture, improve their relationship with food, and gain practical skills to manage their eating. Students will learn how to practice mindfulness and mindful eating, on their journey back to normalized eating. Sessions will focus on identifying hunger and fullness cues, and learning about the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and eating.

This is not a diet or weight-loss program or a treatment for individuals with an eating disorder. Students will be asked to complete a questionnaire prior to registration.

At the end of this group, you will:

Practice mindful eating
Understand your problematic eating habits
Understand the role diet culture plays in perpetuating certain body ideals
Learn how to attend to your own body’s wants and needs
Gain the support of a community who understands what you are experiencing

This professionally facilitated group is designed to help students with autism succeed in a university environment. You will get an opportunity to come together to share strengths and learn strategies to successfully navigate an environment designed for the neurotypical. This group does NOT use any Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) or Social Skills Training methods and does not support Autism Speaks.

Students participating in this group will be required to turn their cameras on.

At the end of this group, you will:

Share your experiences of being neuro-diverse in a world designed for the neurotypical
Connect with other students to build a sense of solidarity and connection
Identify challenges you have or may experience at university and learn coping strategies
Identify and share your strengths to increase your self-esteem and become more effective at problem-solving

This professionally facilitated group is a safe space for students who have experienced sexual violence. Through support and education, you will get an opportunity to gain skills and strengths that build resiliency and lead to a sense of self-empowerment.

At the end of this group, you will:

Understand the impact of sexual violence
Develop effective coping skills to deal with the emotional aftermath
Explore issues such as trust, intimacy, setting boundaries, assertiveness, and positive body image

S2023 dates/times: Thursdays, June 15th to August 3rd, 4:30-6:00pm

Offered virtually

Email pegasus.group@queensu.ca to register.

This 4-week group, facilitated by an Occupational Therapist, will focus on providing students who have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) with strategies to navigate university life. This group will encourage participants to share experiences and solutions they have found helpful. Each week, students will discuss a different topic and leave with strategies they can try during the week and then come back to debrief with the group. Topics include: getting started on a task, managing time, planning and prioritizing as well as navigating distractions. Topics may change depending on group feedback.

Participants must currently be living in Ontario.

This is a drop-in group for students who have experienced a loss of a loved one. Registration is not required but encouraged. Email the group facilitator, Interfaith Chaplain Erin chaplain@queensu.ca.

Visit Faith and Spiritual Life for additional group event details and supports.

Student-Led Initiatives

Questions about student-led initiatives? Email peerwell@queensu.ca

Peer Health Educator (PHE) volunteers put together Fresh Food Boxes and Mason Jar meals for students to order and pick up on campus. Boxes contain all the fresh produce and key ingredients to prepare a quick, easy and healthy recipe which makes approximately 4 servings and cost $5.00 per student. Mason Jar meals contains all the ingredients and spices to prepare a quick, easy and healthy soup or stew and are free.

Students will be sent pick-up time, location and recipe upon registration. If the pick-up time presents as an accessibility barrier, please email peerwell@queensu.ca to discuss alternate arrangements.

S2023 Mason Jar Meal dates: May 25th, July 20th, August 10th. *Note registration only open for 1 date at a time*

Register for Mason Jar Meals

Join our Peer Health Educator (PHE) volunteers and/or student staff for a 60 minute interactive cooking session to learn how to prepare a quick, easy, inexpensive and healthy recipe. Upon registration, students will receive the location, time and safety details. All students are welcome, regardless of your skill level in the kitchen.

S2023 dates: June 28th

Register for Healthy Cooking Session

Join our Peer Health Educator (PHE) volunteers for weekly beginner/intermediate runs during the fall and/or winter terms if you want to start running, increase your distance, improve your time, and/or simply find some running buddies.

This is a sanctioned Rec Club with Queen’s Athletics & Recreation
Register for this club (new users must create an account)
Select "Register" from the menu bar & select "Run Club" from the drop-down menu
Pay one-time $5 membership fee
Join us for runs, offered twice a week!

To receive regular updates on the run club or for more information, follow @queens_run_club on Instagram and/or email run_club@gogaelsgo.com

Join our St. John’s Ambulance (SJA) Therapy Dog Oscar and his handler John as they wander through the Mitchell Hall atrium and Student Life Centre.

See events calendar for Dogs on Campus dates/times.

Unable to join us on campus? Check out some virtual therapy dog videos.

Peer Health Educators have recorded webinars and podcasts to help students increase their health-related knowledge. Topics include: financial literacy, sexual health, mental health, healthy eating, interviews with predominant professors on campus, and more!

Rest & Relaxation Webinar: Relax… Take It Easy
Sexual Health Webinar: Safer Online Dating: Spotting Red Flags, Setting Boundaries & Safety Planning
Mental Fitness Webinar: Fitspiration and Internet Stress: How Social Media Impacts our Mental Health
Substance Use Webinar: Harm Reduction at Queen’s
Financial Literacy Podcasts:
Healthy Eating Webinars:
- How to Store Food in Your Fridge and Freezer 101
- Nutrition Basics and Food Labels

Students enrolled in the Engineering Extended Program will have the opportunity to get in the kitchen and prepare student-friend recipes. This program is designed to help you gain food skills and confidence in the kitchen. We'll also provide some food safety, healthy eating and budgeting tips.

Open to all students enrolled in Engineering Extended Program regardless of your level of skill in the kitchen.

S2023 dates/times: May 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th from 12:00-1:30pm

Student, Staff, Faculty Trainings

If you are interested in organizing a private group training, please complete our online request form. Please note, we require a minimum of TWO WEEKS notice to schedule a training.

Training Request Form

The purpose of this session is to help students, staff and faculty recognize when someone is struggling with their mental health and what to do to support them. Participants will learn about the dual continuum model for mental health and be given strategies to help someone who is in immediate distress and/or in crisis. Practical tips on what to say and do will be discussed so participants leave the session knowing how to connect someone with the appropriate resources.

At the end of this training, participants will:

Gain mental health literacy skills
Be able to recognize when someone is in distress
Know steps to take to help someone with a mental health problem
Discover what mental health resources exist on campus and in the community

Cost: free

S2023 dates/times: May 10th from 1:00-2:00pm (online)

Not able to attend this training? Content is available in our Identifying and Responding to Students in Distress self-directed module

The purpose of this workshop is to give students, staff and faculty a chance to understand and appreciate health from a holistic lens. Participants will reflect on what they are currently doing and learn evidence-based practices to manage stress and stay mentally well. During the session, participants will create, or enhance, their own tailored self-care plan.

By the end of this workshop, participants will:

Create an individualized self-care plan Understand the dimensions of wellness and health in different contexts
Learn evidence-based self-care strategies
Recognize different approaches to stress management
Create a specific action plan to start a new health habit

Cost: free

S2023 dates/times: May 17th from 10:30-11:30am (online)

Not able to attend this training? Content is available in our Creating a Customized Self-Care Plan self-directed module

This 2-part training includes a 1–2-hour self-directed evidence-based online training module called LivingWorks START. It introduces a four-step model for helping keep someone safe from suicide and uses simulations and interactive videos to build and practice helping skills. Part 2 involves a live 30-minute online ZOOM webinar facilitated by a safeTALK trainer. It provides participants an opportunity to debrief about the training, address questions or concerns, and review campus and community resources.

By the end of this training, participants will:

Learn the importance of suicide alertness
Learn how to recognize people who are having thoughts of suicide
Be able to connect people who are having thoughts of suicide with the appropriate resource on and off campus

2022-23 Costs: $20 for students, $40 for staff/faculty

Available to groups upon request (please email bewell@queensu.ca)

This training aims to improve mental health literacy through greater depth and breadth of understanding of mental health issues. The purpose of MHFA is to teach participants how best to assist someone showing signs of a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis.

At the end of the 2-day training, participants will:

Improve mental health literacy
Learn skills and knowledge to help people better manage potential or developing mental health problems
Learn how to recognize signs and symptoms of mental health problems
Be able to provide initial help to someone experiencing a mental health problem
Be able to guide someone towards appropriate professional help

All participants must attend both full days. Participants will receive program materials including a workbook and a certificate of completion.

2023-24 costs: $60 for students, $85 for staff/faculty

S2023 dates/times: May 29-30 from 9am-4pm, June 21-22 from 9am-4pm

This interactive training in suicide first aid teaches participants to recognize when someone may have thoughts of suicide and work with them to create a plan that will support their immediate safety.

At the end of this 2-day training, participants will:

Be able to recognize when someone is having thoughts of suicide
Be able to work with someone who is having thoughts of suicide to create a plan to support their immediate safety
Develop important skills to keep someone with thoughts of suicide safe for now through audio-visual learning aids, discussion, and practice
Recognize other important aspects of suicide prevention including life promotion and self-care

All participants must attend both full days. Participants will receive program materials including a workbook and a certificate of completion.

2023-24 costs: $60 for students, $85 for staff/faculty

S2023 dates/times: May 2-3 from 8:30am-4:30pm

This training prepares participants to recognize when people are having thoughts of suicide and connect them to intervention resources. Powerful videos illustrate the importance of suicide alertness, while discussion and practice stimulate learning.

At the end of this training, participants will be better able to:

Move beyond common tendencies to miss, dismiss, or avoid suicide,
Recognize people who are having thoughts of suicide, and
Apply the TALK steps to connect a person with thoughts of suicide to a suicide first-aid intervention caregiver

2023-24 costs: $15 for students and $25 for staff/faculty

S2023 dates/times: May 16th from 1:00-4:00pm

Register for safeTALK

This training gives an overview of what contributes to stigma and the various types that exist. Participants will learn how prevalent mental illness is among students on campus and discuss the impact stigma can have on people living with a mental illness. Using lived experience videos, interactive case studies and discussion, participants will learn how to spot stigma using the S.T.O.P approach and learn how to stand up and/or speak up against stigma using a bystander intervention model.

At the end of this training, participants will: