During the 2021-2022 school year I piloted a specialized collaboration with the Women’s Mentorship and Leadership Academy (WMLA). Our post-graduate Associate Golda Margate served as the liaison to this program and assisted with this unique collaboration. The purpose of this collaboration was to provide tailored services to address the unique gender specific needs of this remarkable program. The services provided included the following components:
- Presentations specifically designed to address the needs in this group:
- Escalation: Domestic Violence Awareness Workshop
- Mindfulness
- Participation in the day long retreat and panel presenter on career development
- General personal counseling resources and community resources provided
- Streamlined Referral process for WMLA students. Providing gender and culturally competent providers.
- Ongoing case management to students in need of outside referrals and coordination with outside providers.
- Direct counseling services
Due to the success of this collaboration and the high demand for personal counseling services we saw in the 2021-2022 school year from our International Students I decided to incorporate a second collaboration with the International Students Program. Tessa Kwan and Jenna Hornbuckle both interns will serve as the liaison under my guidance to this program. Tessa and Jenna were both International students themselves and bring a unique lived experience to this student group.
We initiated this collaboration by first meeting with the Myanmar Student Union (MSU) to assess the needs of the students. The students spoke vulnerably about the need for basic needs and we were able to connect them with Spark Point services to assist with these needs. We discussed the stigma of mental health many of them carry and it was determined that informational classes on wellness and other topics was of great interest. I met with the interim coordinator for International Students Chikako Walker, general counselor for International Students Carlos Romero and an instructor over the summer to discuss this collaboration. We discussed the stigma of mental health concerns and it was determined that we would participate in their Fall 22 Welcoming Event providing information about Health and Wellness. We presented on our services broadly and did tabling to provide resources and to share about our program from an overall Wellness perspective. Our intern Tessa Kwan who will serve as the liaison to this program presented to the counseling class for international students in August and will provide additional workshops throughout the school year.
