A therapy room at the TCU Counseling and Wellness Center in Jarvis Hall. Credit: Courtesy of Madeleine Cook
The Ohio State Department of Psychology is offering an interactive and experiential mental health and personal wellness course this spring in an effort to introduce students to evidence-based coping mechanisms for stress, anxiety, and depression.
As students grappled with the social and academic repercussions of COVID-19, adding to the rise of major mental health problems In America’s Youth, two Department of Psychology professors and licensed clinical psychologists, Dr. Jennifer Cheavens and Dr. Daniel Strunk, decided to co-teach this one-credit hour course. Cheavens said this class, called Arts & Sciences 5194 Group Studies, is meant to teach coping tools through exercises and group discussions that anyone can use.
“It’s something that people can use in their professional lives later on, something that we as teachers use every day, and it’s something that you can use to help your friends or help yourself,” Cheavens said.
Cheavens said the class will meet virtually on Wednesday mornings, discussing one new skill each week to help students learn how to tackle current or future problems.
Strunk said he hopes the students will be open to the exercises taught in the course.
“You need openness to experience because it’s a more experiential course than most of the courses we teach,” Strunk said. “As long as you can stick with the exercises and give things a chance, even though you may be a bit hesitant about it, that’s the kind of thing that would really help. [the students] growing up.”
Strunk said the class is open to both undergraduates and graduates, with specific assignments tailored to the respective audiences to ensure students gain applicable skills.
Strunk said that previous sections of this course have had around 100 students, allowing them to hear a variety of different perspectives.
“There are a lot of people talking about their experiences and you realize you’re not alone,” Strunk said. “Although everyone has very different circumstances, there are difficulties that people share.”
While the class serves as a graded course, Cheavens said students shouldn’t let the anxiety of receiving a grade discourage them from enrolling in the course.
“We are totally uninterested in qualifying,” Cheavens said. “Homework is for you to practice your skill each week and give something to graduating students who read your work.”
Spring enrollment is low, and Strunk said he believes this is a result of the misleading title in the course catalog.
“The main reason is that it appears on the list in a silly way,” Strunk said. “It’s listed as ‘Arts and Sciences 5194 Group Studies’, so there’s nothing in the course syllabus that explains what it’s about.”
At press time, Cheavens said there are currently about 30 students enrolled in the spring course.
Strunk said he hopes more members of the Ohio State community will show interest in the course to bolster students’ mental health.
“If a student feels like they are struggling with stress, this is a good course,” Strunk said. “If you’re not struggling with stress, I still think it’s a good course to learn how to want to be ready so that when life’s inevitable challenges come, you can learn how to respond to these challenges.”
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