UHS Mental Health Services works hard to meet the individual needs of all students. Beyond the clinic walls, UHS offers many services for supporting student mental health. If you’re not ready to start counseling, are waiting for a counseling appointment, or are looking for tools to improve your mental health, UHS has got you covered! Here are a few resources and how to find them.
If you want to get a counselor’s perspective: Let’s Talk sessions
Let’s Talk is a no-cost, informal, and confidential service where you can speak to a UHS counselor about specific problems and explore solutions in a 20-minute one-on-one session. Let’s Talk is a great way to explore what going to therapy and speaking to a mental health professional is like in a one-time, directed session. Some Let’s Talk sections focus on specific identities or concerns, with sessions for BIPOC students, LGBTQ+ students, engineering students, and more. Other daily sessions are open to all students and concerns. Let’s Talk sessions are offered daily online this summer between June 6 and August 12. Students do not need to pay the summer health fee to attend a Let’s Talk session. More information can be found on Let’s Talk website.
If you want relaxation assistance: UHS Guided Relaxation Playlist
UHS offers a guided relaxation playlist on Spotify. Topics include sleep, autogenic relaxation, muscle relaxation, breath awareness, and peaceful focus. Listen to the playlist on Spotify.
If you love mental health podcasts: UHS Connecting Badgers Podcast
UHS also offers the Connecting Badgers podcast, available on Spotify. The podcast, hosted by UHS specialists, offers tips for students to promote their mental health in order to strengthen student wellbeing and success. The podcast helps listeners improve their mental health literacy, so students can recognize, manage, and prevent mental health concerns. Listen to this podcast on Spotify.
If you want a skills focused, learning-based environment for managing a variety of mental health topics: Thrive workshops
Thrive workshops help students develop skills to handle different topics like test anxiety, sleep, procrastination, and more. Workshops are offered Fall and Spring semester will resume in September 2022. You can find the schedule for Thrive workshops on the Thrive website.
If you want to discuss mental health with peers who may have similar experiences or concerns as you: Group counseling
Group counseling provides a safe environment for participants to process emotions, give and receive feedback, and find community. Students can join a group that best fits their needs—some group topics are open to all students, like mindfulness and student success, and others focus on themes or identities, such as eating concerns, LGBTQ+ students, and students of color. Interpersonal process groups offer a space for individuals processing grief, depression, troubled relationships, and low self-esteem. For many groups, students attend a pre-group orientation to meet the group facilitator, have questions answered, and familiarize themselves with the group counseling process before their first session. Some groups, such as survivor support and meditation, are available for drop-in, meaning students can attend at any point in the semester. The group counseling schedule and semester/summer topics are available now.
These resources are great tools to help explore your mental health and make positive changes to your overall wellbeing. The UHS Guided Relaxation Playlist and the Connecting Badgers Podcast are available 24/7 for UW-Madison students. Let’s Talk sessions and Thrive workshops are available during Fall and Spring semesters, and summer Let’s Talk sessions are being piloted during Summer 2022. Group counseling is available during the academic year and in the summer to students who pay the summer health fee or are enrolled in summer courses.
UW-Madison is here to support you. UHS has a 24/7 Mental Health Crisis Support Line (608-265-5600, option 9). If you have other concerns for yourself or someone else, support is available from the Dean of Students Office (608-263-5700).