Workshop helps participants identify, support distressed students

David Dawson, director of counseling services, and Donna DeAscentis, clinical counselor, will help faculty and staff identify and support distressed students during a workshop scheduled for noon Wednesday, Nov. 6. Sponsored by the Office of Human Resources, the workshop will be held in the Ochre Court breakfast room.

The workshop aims to help participants identify students who are not functioning well due to a depressive episode or chronic mental illness. Learn the difference between the typical college student experiencing stress versus those students who are compromised due to their depressive symptoms or mental health condition.

Participants will learn how to respond to a student that may be a suicide risk and how to successfully refer a student to professional counseling services. It will also provide information on the characteristics of a student that may be struggling with depression disorder, anxiety disorder or Asperger’s.

Employees on the University’s health insurance plan who attend at least two HR-sponsored wellness workshops during 2013 will be eligible to receive a $25 payroll credit, which will be distributed in February 2014. You must be actively employed and on the payroll in February 2014 to receive the credit.

To register for the workshop, contact Cindy Donnelly at (401) 341-3160 or cynthia.donnelly@salve.edu.