Education & Outreach

Educational Outreach & Workshops

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) offers psycho-educational programs designed to reduce distress and/or increase wellbeing. Frequent topics include:

• Anxiety Management (including test anxiety)
• Transition and Coping
• Red Folder (how to help students in distress)
• Mindfulness Strategies for Emotion Management
• Self-Compassion
• Relationship & Communication Skills
• Imposter Phenomenon 

Did you know...

...there are multiple wellness outreach options offered at Penn State?! Our partners at Health Promotion and Wellness also offer health education workshops! Program topics include:

• Resilience, Mindfulness and General Well-being
• Stress Less
• Got Sleep?
• Alcohol Workshop
• Mission: Nutrition
• Safer Sex Party
• How to Help a Friend with an Eating Disorder
• Health and Wellness Services and Resources at Penn State

Health Promotion and Wellness workshops are delivered by staff or trained peer educators (based on topic). Schedule through Health Promotion and Wellness to learn more or email promotinghealth@psu.edu!

Request a Workshop or Presentation

All outreach events have moved to a Zoom-based format until further notice. Recording is not permitted.

Criteria for outreach programming, workshops, and presentations include:

• Advance notice: Submit your request at least two (2) weeks prior to the event. 
• Your attendance: If you (the requesting party) are unable to be present at the time of the event/presentation, plan to have a proxy in attendance. The representative may not be an intended audience member. For example, an instructor should not request that one of their students be enacted as their representative; however, a TA would be a feasible proxy. 
• Audience confirmation: Please confirm the number of audience members that will be present prior to the event. If you are unable to guarantee attendance, we have a number of other options that may be feasible alternatives to better meet the needs of this group that we are happy to discuss with you, including Life Hack Kits and the CAPS Virtual Library.
• Outreach Request Form completion: If your event meets all of the above criteria, please complete our Outreach Request Form. With few exceptions (i.e. campus units with specified CAPS liaisons), do not send direct requests to staff persons at CAPS. All requests must come via the Outreach Request Form in order to be processed. 

If you are requesting an event for support following a significant event on campus or in the community, please contact Dr. Stephanie Stama (slf245@psu.edu).

Media and Class Interview Requests

All requests must come via the Outreach Request Form in order to be processed. Do not send direct requests to staff persons at CAPS.

• Prior to requesting an interview, all individuals are expected to review the CAPS website and below resources, as many answers to frequently asked questions can be found here. 
• All media requests must be made with at least one week advance notice.
• All requests for class project/assignment interviews must be made with at least two weeks advance notice. No interviews for this purpose are offered during finals week.
• When completing the Outreach Request Form, please include your deadline and some, if not all, questions that will be included in the interview in the "Description" section.
• Requests for interviews for established media outlets (on campus and state/national media) are given priority over requests for interviews related to class projects and assignments.

Interview Resources

Before requesting an interview, review these online mental health resources. These are beneficial for personal use and class assignment purposes.

• Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH) - Practice-Research-Network (PRN) focused on providing accurate and up-to-date information on the mental health of today’s college students, including a blog series on the impact of COVID-19 on student mental health. Data on mental health issues among college students, as well as considerations commonly addressed by campus counseling centers, can also be found in the annual reports and by using the Data Navigator tool.
• CAPS Wellness Services - Our Virtual Library, Life Hack Kits, WellTrack, and YOU@PSU are interactive knowledge bases that answer commonly asked questions.
• PsycInfo - primary database for international literature in psychology and related disciplines
• American Association of Suicidology
• PsychCentral - Online mental health resources
• National Eating Disorder Association
• National Institute of Mental Health