Group Counselling & Peer-Led Mental Health and Wellness Groups

In this group, you will work on developing skills to:

• Tolerate painful emotions
• Work with your emotions instead of getting rid of them
• Maintain and improve your relationships
• Gain core mindfulness skills that will help you understand yourself and your emotional responses

Program details:

• Meetings are on Wednesdays from 1 pm-3 pm, between May 22 and August 14.
• This is an online group.
• This group is free.
• This group does not meet during the reading break (June 24-28).

This drop-in group is a blend of a drop-in time and discussion-based group time. Queer Support is a safe and inclusive space on campus dedicated to fostering support, understanding, and empowerment for queer college students.

Our group is committed to creating a supportive environment that celebrates diversity and encourages open dialogue. Whether you identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, or anywhere else on the spectrum, Queer Support is a space where you can be your authentic self without judgment. We welcome students from all walks of life and backgrounds.

Program details:

• Meetings will take place on Thursdays, from 2:30 pm-4 pm, between May 2 and August 15.
• This is an in-person group.
• This group is free.
• This group takes place in room E350 (3rd floor, E Building).

An easy way to de-stress from everyday life – add a bit of colour to your week with the Colour Crew! Supplies will be provided, but bring your own if you’d like!

Program details:

• Meetings are on Tuesdays from 1 pm-3 pm, between May 21 and August 13.
• This in-person group takes place in the Health and Wellness Zone (3rd floor, Student Commons/E building).
• This group is free.
• This group does not meet during the reading break (June 24-28).

During Snack Chats, you can connect with the Student Health & Wellness Zone Student Peers. The Peers will give out yummy snacks and chat about any topics that you as a student might be interested in.

Program details:

• Meetings are on Thursdays, from 1 pm-2 pm between May 23 and August 15.
• This is an in-person group.
• This group is free.
• This group does not meet during the reading break (June 24-28).

This group takes place beside the Welcome Centre in the Student Health & Wellness Zone (3rd Floor, Student Commons). Attendees will receive free tea and coffee and a variety of snacks.

Getting Started and Avoiding Procrastination – From To Do to Done: “If I’d just started earlier, I could have done so much better.” Although many students claim to work better under the pressure of deadlines, not having enough time to complete assignments can mean that you are not reaching your potential as a student. Learn to maximize your marks by starting early and breaking down your assignments into manageable parts using an “assignment tracker.” This workshop is also about sharing techniques that will help you break the habit of putting off work and learn strategies to avoid procrastination.

Creating Meaningful Connections – Building Healthy Friendships and Relationships: Having close friendships and relationships is seen as one way to improve mental and physical well being but creating and maintaining relationships is tough. Join us for this session to learn about the benefits of creating meaningful connections and start to learn some basics on how to create them and measure for yourself if they are healthy relationships.

Say Yes to Less Stress: Balancing your course-load and personal commitments can be a stressful experience for many college students. This workshop, led by an Algonquin College counsellor, will help students learn more about stress. It will also introduce practical strategies to help with stress management so that you can focus better on your learning!

Communicating Effectively for College/Workplace Success: Communication and interpersonal skills are fundamental to success, inside or outside of school or the workplace. This workshop will look at communication techniques to improve relationships, improve interpersonal skills for work and school success and help us examine ways to improve our current communication skills.

Rock the Clock: Managing your time and keeping on top of your work are the keys to success as a college student. This workshop will introduce you to some simple techniques to plan your time more effectively. A learning strategist will teach you how to build an “Ideal Weekly Schedule” and a “Semester Plan,” and you will also discuss good techniques for getting into a routine to stay on top of your work.

Resilience: Our current reality is an unusual and difficult time for everyone. In your studies, you may be experiencing some additional stress or setbacks, which could be impacting your wellness. Join this session for a discussion on building your resiliency in times of difficulty so that you can bounce back from challenges and overcome obstacles.

Learning to Learn Online: While learning online has many advantages, it poses unique challenges for many people.  Come to this workshop to learn more about the ins and outs of learning in an online environment, including your responsibilities as student.  Learn tips and tricks that can help you optimize your time and learn more effectively.  Feeling lost in cyber-space? — discover on-campus resources that may be able to help.

Study Smart: Practice makes perfect! If you want to feel more comfortable with new material, you need to review regularly and actively! Trade in straight reading for techniques that will allow you to rehearse material, test yourself, and come up with memory devices. Learn how to prioritize your studying and focus on the material that really matters. The techniques introduced in this session will help throughout the semester, as well as leading up to exams.

Make it Stick: It can be challenging to listen to your professors while also writing class notes . . . and how do you balance all of the readings that you need to get through, anyway? Come to this workshop to learn more about different note-taking systems, and figure which one best fits your courses and your own learning style.

Perfectionism – Taming Your Inner Critic:  Perfectionism is a trait that is often associated with achievement and success. It’s OK to want to work hard and achieve a goal, but the question is “at what cost?”. If you are picky and have too high of standards and want to feel better, reduce stress and enjoy your life more, then this workshop will cover ways to tame the inner critic to allow you to live the life you want.

Ace that Test, Part 1: This workshop will help you to plan out your time in the weeks leading up to exams so that you have enough time to study each subject. It will also introduce the “Stoplight Study Technique” to help you determine what material you need to cover. Other strategies will include active study techniques and memory tools that can improve your exam results.

Ace that Test: For many students, exam time can be filled with stress, anxiety, and worry. This workshop will help you to better access the material that you have learned while studying so that you can demonstrate all that you have learned during the semester.  There will be a focus on strategies to reduce anxiety in testing situations.

Have your final exams been switched to open book?  Never had an open book exam and wonder what it might look like?  . . . before you celebrate and decide that you don’t even need to study, come to our “Preparing for and Writing Open Book Exams” Workshop offered online through Zoom.

This 30-minute workshop will tell you more about what to expect from an open book exam and how to best prepare, depending on the type of exam.  The facilitator will give practical tips on how to set up your workspace, how to avoid possible academic offences (such as sharing information with classmates or plagiarism), and how to minimize issues with technology.  Be informed about this type of exam so that you can do your best on your upcoming exams!

Secrets to Creating Great Group Projects: Do you cringe when your professors assign group projects? Do you dread completing these projects because you know it’s going to be difficult to get everyone on board to get the job done? This workshop will teach you how to set expectations, assign roles and responsibilities, create standards for your group to follow, facilitate communication, and increase motivation in your group so that your group can work together to successfully complete your project.

Tame Your Temper – Emotion Regulation Strategies:  As hard as we may try to stay calm, situations always arise that push our buttons. While feeling anger isn’t a bad thing, it is important to constructively express that anger. This workshop helps us recognize our emotions related to anger and how we can constructively express our needs and manage outbursts.

Email communication is one of the easiest ways to reach out to professors, staff, and other students to share information or ask quéstions in a college setting. But how can you make sure that you are communicating clearly and effectively using email? And when should you use another form of communication instead? This session will explore the pros and cons of relying on email communication and share tips to make your emails professional and easy to read. There will be a focus on communicating with college professionals, especially professors. Several templates and examples will be provided to help you with emails regarding common requests.

Whether you are concerned about time management, organization, studying, or finding balance in your life, being a truly effective student really comes down to the habits that you cultivate every day. Learn about the basics of habit formation, including tips for making new habits easy and manageable by using the “Four Laws of Behavior Change.” Discover how these laws can be used to both build positive habits and eliminate negative ones. By the end of the session, participants will have the chance to create an “ABC Recipe Card” and commit to a new academic habit. Who knows? Maybe this habit will change your life as a student!