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Student Wellness Centre

Programs

The Student Wellness Centre has a wide variety of programs designed to cater to the wellness needs of the student population. Please note that while some programs are drop-in, others do require registration.

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ACT on Anxiety

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Fall Term
Thursdays 2:00 PM-3:30 PM

Location: Online

Participants will learn Acceptance & Commitment Therapy strategies to decrease the impact of anxious thoughts, feelings, sensations, and memories on living a valued life. For more information or to register, email Carla Glanville (MA) at glanvic@mcmaster.ca or Kerri-Ann Fitzgerald (MSW, RSW) at fitzka@mcmaster.ca.

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Dialectical Behaviour Therapy

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Fall Term
Tuesdays 5:00 - 7:00pm

Location: Online

In supportive small-group environment, participants will learn helpful ways to cope with periods of intense emotional distress. The group will focus on understanding painful emotional experiences and developing concrete strategies to prevent, decrease or manage painful life experiences. There are 3 modules that rotate through the year which include emotion regulation, distress tolerance and interperson…

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Managing Your Worry and Anxiety

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Fall term (Various start dates)
Fridays 10:30am - 12:30pm

Location: Online

Participants learn about the connection between worrying and generalized anxiety through an exploration of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) concepts/strategies. Weekly experiential exercises will be used to challenge thoughts, manage worries, and provide a greater sense of calm to mind and body. For more information or to register, email Sheila Ortlieb (MA, RP) at ortliebs@mcmaster.ca.

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Managing Your Emotions

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Fall Term
Wednesdays 5:30 - 7:30pm

Location: Online

A basic introduction to Cognitive Therapy. Participants will practice specific ways to handle feelings more effectively. For more information or to register, email Nathan Cooper (Psy. D., C. Psych.) at ncooper@mcmaster.ca.

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Mend Your Mood

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Fall Term
Fridays 12:30 - 2:30pm

Location: Online

This group will focus on developing a better understanding of depression, and learning evidence-based skills to change patterns that trigger depression symptoms. This group will be appropriate for those with mild to moderate symptoms of depression. Pre-group meeting required This program will run from September 25th until December 4th. For more information or to register,…

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Emotion Regulation Skills

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Fall Term
Wednesdays 1:30 - 3:30pm

Location: Online

Participate in this 12-week coping skills group, where you will learn mindfulness and how to manage emotion dysregulation, distress, and interpersonal difficulties. For more information or to register, email Debra Earl (RN) at earld@mcmaster.ca.

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Walk in Nature Sessions - Post-Walk Virtual Meetups

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Fall Term
Wednesdays 12:30 - 1:30pm

Location: Online

Connect with nature and leave your worries behind as you unwind on a walk and connect with nature. We’re hosting post-walk meet-ups online! Join us at 12:30-1:30pm each Wednesday on Zoom after your walk near home.  Here’s how it will work:  Walk somewhere for ~30 minutes (or more) in your neighbourhood or where you can do some movement/exercise near nature (near a window or plants…

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Who am I? - Drop-in

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Fall Term
Wednesdays 1:30 PM- 3:30 PM

Location: Online

An art based drop in group for individuals who are interested in expanding their understanding of self. The focus of this group is to learn and embrace parts of your personality that are outside of your awareness or just beginning to emerge into your awareness. For more information, email Carla Glanville (MA) at glanvic@mcmaster.ca.  

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Food for Thought - Cooking Classes

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Fall Term (Various dates)
Various Times

Location: Online

Cooking Sessions - Fall Term Introductory group to explore and practice topics related to cooking skills, meal planning, nutrition, and food safety. All skill levels encouraged to join. How the cooking session works: We will send out a recipe (with various substitutions and options) 1 week before the scheduled date. You will receive a small…

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StressLess - Drop In

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Fall Term
Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Location: Online - Zoom

The StressLess session is designed to explore the similarity and differences between stress, anxiety, and fear, identify stressors, explore stress physiology, discuss existing stress management strategies, and introduce progressive muscle relaxation. Drop-in Online sessions will be available online. Email Nathan Cooper at ncooper@mcmaster.ca to receive the link for the online meeting.

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Connections Curriculum

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Fall term (Fridays)
10:30AM - 12:30PM

A 12 session psychoeducational curriculum that helps participants develop and or build on their shame-resilience. Connections will enable participants to be more self-compassionate, emotionally aware, and interpersonally effective. For more information or to register, email Aven Armstrong-Sutton (MSW, Ph.D.c, RSW) at armstrong-sutton.aven@mcmaster.ca.

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Grief Support Sharing Circle - Drop-in

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Fall Term
2nd Thursday of each month 9:30-11:00pm

Location: Online - WebEx

This drop in style group is for students who have experienced grief and loss due to the death of a loved one. The group is facilitated by Marybeth from McMaster Open Circle and Brittany (counsellor) from Indigenous Student Services and is open to all students. This group will provide a safe and confidential space for…

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Caring Communities Network

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Fall term (Various dates)

Location: Online

Promote wellness within your community (MSU Club or other student group) through the designation of a Wellness Liaison. A Wellness Liaison is someone in your community that can share experiences, resources, and opportunities surrounding health promotion and how to care for your community. They’ll be connected with the Student Wellness Centre as we share learning…

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Steps to Self-Care

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Fall Term
Tuesdays 10:30am-12:00pm

Location: Online

Join us for a 5-week workshop exploring the biopsychosocial-spiritual model of self-care. This group will focus on maintaining self-care while introducing new practices and routines through SMART goals. Additionally, the group will focus on stress management skills. This group will focus on understanding yourself first, in order to engage in self- care practices that are…

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Meditation Circle

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Fall term (Various start dates)
Fridays 12:30 - 1:30pm

Location: Student Wellness Centre (Temporarily online)

Join us to learn about meditation and to support each other in becoming more mindful. Each session begins with a check-in about our experience of the past week, then a meditation practice is introduced and guided for 15-20 minutes of practice, followed by an opportunity to discuss any questions or insights. Each week we explore…

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OCD is Affecting Me

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Fall Term
Thursdays 2:30 PM- 4:00 PM

Location: Online

A 10-week virtual therapy group for individuals having difficulties managing obsessive-compulsive disorder. The sessions will provide an overview of OCD, discuss symptoms and review helpful strategies to manage OCD. The program will begin on September 17th until November 19th, 2020. For more information or to register, email Rachel Gibbs at gibbsr@mcmaster.ca.  

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Wellness Challenge

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April 6 - 19, 2020

Over the next two weeks of April 6th-19th, McMaster Student Wellness Centre invites you to join our various challenges. Offering three different challenges this final season, join our: Sleep Challenge, Active Living Challenge, or Creative Challenge. Whether it is cultivating good sleeping habits, staying active from home, or spending your spare time doing creative work,…

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Wellness Webinars

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Multiple dates - May 2020
Varying times

Location: Online

April 28 Finding Inner Calm: Managing stress during COVID-19 Finding Inner Calm: Managing Stress During COVID-19 May 7 Community Care In this talk, we’ll move beyond self-care into community care. Participants will have the opportunity to explore what community care looks like in the context of COVID-19 and finish off by putting theory into practice.…

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BIPOC Resilience and Peer Support

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Fall Term
Wednesdays 10:30 PM- 11:30 AM

Location: Online

A virtual safe community where black, Indigenous and People of Colour can share their voices and uplift one another. This group is intended to create opportunities to discuss personal, social, political and academic challenges and pressures faced uniquely by this population at McMaster University. Sessions will include discussions on mental health, self-care, wellbeing, self-empowerment, self-esteem,…

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Did You Know? HPV

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Ongoing

Location: Online

The Did You Know? HPV webinar is designed to give students knowledge about what HPV is and how the vaccine can prevent at least six types of cancers from forming. While HPV and other sexually transmitted infections can be tough to comprehend, this webinar makes HPV easy to understand, provide key Canadian statistics, and a…

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Perfectionism Power Hour

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Fall Term
1:30 PM -2:30 PM

Location: Online

Are you having difficulties with procrastination? Are you constantly striving to meet excessively high academic standards? Are you constantly dissatisfied with grades, even when others commented how well you did? If so, this is the group for you. A 10-week virtual therapy group for individuals having difficulties with perfectionism. Please note that this is a…

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LivingWorks Start

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Fall Term (Various dates)

LivingWorks Start teaches valuable skills to everyone 13 and older and requires no formal training or prior experience in suicide prevention. When you sign up for LivingWorks Start training, you'll learn a powerful four-step model to keep someone safe from suicide, and you'll have a chance to practice it with impactful simulations. Safety resources and…

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Wellness Lounge (virtual)

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Various
Various

Location: Online (Zoom)

Join fellow McMaster students and the Student Wellness Centre's Peer Educators in an hour of games, reflection, and new friends! Each week relax and take a break from studying, while participating in a weekly games. Sessions will include a brief introduction to the game, time to meet the other students joining and the activity that's identified…

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McMaster Pen Pals

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Fall Term (Various dates)

Location: Online

The McMaster Pen Pals program is a new initiative to help connect McMaster students who would like to meet new friends while we're away from campus. After filling out this 9-question-form, the Health Promotion team will match you with someone else who also filled this form and introduce you to one another via your McMaster…

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