Brescia University College is officially launching its new peer support space and Wellness Peers program.
The holistic wellness space will provide students with an opportunity to seek peer-to-peer support from the university’s wellness peers, who are formally trained and staff-supervised through Brescia’s Student Life Centre.
“As a student, I believe it is crucial for Brescia to have a program where students have the opportunity to support one another and seek out care from their peers in a safe space as they make their way through their university careers,” said Cassandra Cozman, student co-ordinator of the Wellness Peers program.
The space offers a calming esthetic, items to help with grounding, learning resources for students and wellness peers to provide support and help.
Privacy and confidentiality have also been carefully considered, with no identifying information being collected from students and white noise machines to mitigate conversations being overheard.
Previously known as the Wellness Education Peers program, the revamped Wellness Peers initiative will be available to Brescia students who are experiencing mild to moderate mental health concerns for 10 hours a week.
“Throughout the past decade, Brescia has worked proactively to offer a variety of mental health opportunities designed to educate and assist our students,” said Marianne Simm, vice-principal of students at the university.
“While many of our students are now more aware of identifying signs of mental health, they may not be entirely sure of their next steps. This new peer support space is a natural next step for our community and a wonderful way for our students to support one another.”
The grand opening of the support space is at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.