AIE 2019 - Mental Health Session

1. Training Your International Students
Emotional Wellness and Mental Health Awareness

2. PRESENTERS
Jennifer Frankel
International Director
Jennifer Vinca
International Student
Advisor
Paul Patterson
Program Coordinator: CCIP
International Student Grant

3. https://www.internationalstudentinsurance.com/explained/culture-shock-and-stress-video.php
Stress & Culture Shock Video

4. ● What’s Going On With Our Students
● Embracing Mental Health
● Programming That Works
● Resources & Hotlines
● Discussion & Questions
Agenda

5. What’s Going On?
1 in 5 children, ages 13-18 will
have a serious mental illness
40% of students so depressed
they found it difficult to function
61% of students felt
”overwhelming anxiety”
13.9% of entering freshman
anticipate a “very good chance” of
seeking counselling
38.5% felt things were hopeless
Source: nami.org
National Alliance
on Mental Illness
Source: acha-ncha.org
American College Health
Association

6. Mental Health Need, Awareness, and Use of Counseling
Services Among International Graduate Students, Journal of American College Health
Source: Hyun, Quinn, Madon, & Lusting, 2010
Mental Health Care – Underutilized

7. Counseling is for
“crazy” people.
"Everyone will know I saw a
counselor.”
I can handle my own mental
health problems. If I can't, that
means I'm weak.
Only someone from my
home country will
understand my problem.
I could lose my visa status.
Common Myths

8. Embracing
Mental Health

9. Supporting Your Students
1. Help Create A Community
1. Connecting students prior to their arrival in the U.S.
2. Awareness of clubs, teams and organizations on campus
3. Scheduling events regularly, and especially during holidays/holiday breaks
2. Regular Check-Ins
1. Being able to identify students who are struggling
2. Noticeable changes in dress, appearance, demeanor
3. Being available to talk
3. Internal Training
1. Identify and respond to students in distress
2. When and how to connect students to resources (we are not counselors!)
3. How to listen actively, empathetically, and without judgment

10. Culture of Care: Supporting Students
Advisors can support students by:
• Being available/open door policy
• Learn how to pronounce names correctly
• At times of crisis, be part of the support team
• Support the community, not just the affected student/family
• Knowing resources on/off campus and provide a “warm hand-off”
• Do not avoid difficult conversations

11. • Dispel the myths: What is mental health and counseling
• Know the facts about cultural differences around counseling
• Invite on-campus counselors/psychologists to orientation and meet & greets
• Educate counselors/psychologists on how to communicate across cultures
• Normalize students’ concerns and stress
• Demystify seeking treatment (i.e., types of providers, where to go, what to expect)
• Acknowledge that helping looks different across cultures
How to Reduce Stigma

12. Mental Health outside of the Mental Health sphere:
• Depression screening event on campus/Depression screenings on website
• Encourage participation at “lunch and learns” focused on stress management, time management,
sleep, etc.
• Highlight Counseling Center events through newsletters, social media, etc.
• Know the services offered around campus and in your community, and form connections
- Support groups/medical practitioners who speak other languages
- Student Health Center
- Counseling Center
- Chapel and community religious/spiritual support centers
Building Bridges

13. Case #1: A Warm Hand-Off
• Importance of knowing campus partners
• Acknowledging “elephant in room”
Case #2: Transitioning Home
• Not just about homesickness/adjusting to U.S.
• Integrating back to home country
Case Studies

14. Programming
that works

15. Building the Trust – Creating the Connection
“The first day of a student’s orientation is too late to be discussing student mental health for the
first time.” Lee Burdette Williams, “It’s Never Too Soon To Talk About Mental Health,”The Chronicle of Higher Education,
10/14/2016, p. A56.
Send or have available on website:
• Testimonials from current students about homesickness, culture shock, stress, anxiety, and
depression (perhaps in video format)
• Quotes about acceptance of mental health and counseling (like “Common Myths”)
• Materials about the Counseling/Wellness available on campus with pictures and contact information

16. • Inform students of challenges and cultural adjustment
• Invite Counseling Center or other mental health professionals to introduce mental health
service/host a luncheon
• Educate students about campus/community resources
• Parent and Partner programs
• Train your peer leaders and mentors to be knowledgeable enough about these issues to
help guide students
• Collaborate with residence halls on outreach programming
Mental Health in Orientation

17. “...the quality of the social support system can have both
a direct and a buffering effect when international students
undergo psychological stress.”
Meirong Liu, “Addressing the Mental Health Problems of Chinese International College Students in the United
States,” Advances in Social Work Vpl. 10 No. 1 (Spring 2009), p. 74.

18. • Buddy/Peer mentor programs
• Workshops (e.g., “Decoding U.S. Culture”, “Lost in Translation”, “Culture Shock”)
• “Let’s Talk” Drop-in Hours
• University 101-type courses
• Social organizations/student clubs
• Summer/Holiday programs
• Friendship family programs
• Discussion/Support Groups
• Creative initiates (e.g., “Welcome to My World Photo Exhibition”)
Programming that helps

19. Marketing Your Program
How many of your international students want to go to a special event where
they are going to talk about mental health?
Instead, think about ways to approach the topic indirectly:
- Making friends in the US
- Managing stress
- Time management
- Eating healthy
- Staying fit on campus

20. Resources & Hotlines
Pre-departure, Orientation, Online

21. Emotional Wellness Training

22. www.internationalstudentinsurance.com/explained/mental-health-video.php
Mental Health Awareness Video

23. https://www.internationalstudentinsurance.com/explained/mental-health.php
Student Info Page

24. NAFSA Resources
Best Practices in Addressing Mental Health Issues Affecting Education Abroad Participants
https://shop.nafsa.org/detail.aspx?id=102E
Crisis Management in a Cross Cultural Setting: ISSS
http://www.nafsa.org/wcm/Cust/Custom_Cart/Product_Detail.aspx?prodid=450
Available May 2019, NAFSA Book/E-book: Mental Health Issues and International Students
Other Resources
Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Cross-Cultural Student Emotional Wellness (MGH
CCCSEW) https://www.mghstudentwellness.org/consortium
Resources

25. Hotlines
● National Suicide Prevention
1-800-273-TALK
www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org
● The National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-SAFE
http://www.thehotline.org/
● It Gets Better Project (LGBTQ)
1-866-4-U-TREVOR
www.itgetsbetter.org/pages/get-help
Services
● Crisis Text Line
http://www.crisistextline.org/
Text 741-741
● Online and phone counseling services
Services & Hotlines

26. Questions?
“International students who reported a more functional relationship
with their advisors were less likely to report having an emotional or
stress-related problem in the past year.”
(Source: Hyun, Quinn, Madon, & Lusting, 2010)