Trinity College will be enhancing its Health and Wellness program and providing on-site mental health counselling and support services for its students, through the generous support of alumni,<\/p>\n
Trinity alumna Dr. Anne Steacy \u201976 has donated $1.5 million to establish the Anne Steacy Counselling Initiative, which will support core staffing in the area of mental health and wellness, including on-site counselling for students.<\/p>\n
\u201cSupporting students goes beyond providing an excellent educational experience\u2014healthy development of the whole person is crucial if we are to enable our students to fulfill their enormous potential. Nothing is more important in this regard than mental health and wellness,\u201d said Mayo Moran, Provost and Vice Chancellor, Trinity College.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Steacy identified the importance of this need and was critical to shaping the vision of the program,\u201d Provost Moran said. \u201cWe are so grateful for her leadership and commitment to the student experience. Trinity College is fortunate to have such a wonderful partner in supporting the well-being of our students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Steacy envisioned a counselling program as a way to provide a safety net for students. \u201cNot everyone can be a \u2018Flying Wallenda\u2019\u2014performing on a tightrope without a net. It can be horribly lonely up there,\u201d said Dr. Steacy, adding that she fondly remembers Professor Pat Br\u00fcckmann as being a part of her safety net when she was at Trinity. \u201cThrough the new initiative, Trinity will be able to help students who may feel overwhelmed due to an ingrained pressure to perform perfectly all the time or have lost balance in certain aspects of their life.\u201d<\/p>\n
This commitment has inspired other generous alumni to lend their support to this important cause. Trinity College is extremely fortunate to have received another gift to support health and wellness. Michael Royce \u201868 and Sheila (Northey) Royce \u201868 have committed $250,000 to support Trinity\u2019s Health and Wellness program.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognize that, if Trinity is to remain the centre of true excellence it has long been, it must provide comprehensive support to its students to allow them to take full advantage of the Trinity experience. We believe this initiative will constitute a central pillar of that support,\u201d the Royces said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe financial support from these alumni will allow the College to develop unique and ambitious programming in the area of health and wellness,\u201d Provost Moran said. \u201cImplementing this program will be one of the most important things we do at Trinity College, and it never would have happened without the generous support from our alumni.\u201d<\/p>\n
Research from the University of Toronto\u2019s Report of the Provostial Advisory Committee on Student Mental Health and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) confirm the urgency of mental health needs among university students. In recent years, Trinity students have also identified the need for more robust health and wellness supports, particularly counselling, and they have taken action. During the last academic year, the student body approved a self-imposed levy to raise approximately $9,000 annually to help support the Health and Wellness program at the College.<\/p>\n
Fourth-year Trinity student Kaleem Hawa knows how important on-site counselling services will be for students. \u201cWhen Trinity\u2019s students authorized an annual student fee to help the College pay for an embedded counsellor, it sent a strong message that this is incredibly important to our community,\u201d said Hawa, who served as Chair of the College\u2019s student government in 2014-2015 and as undergraduate representative on U of T Provost Cheryl Regehr\u2019s Mental Health Committee. \u201cThis is an amazing example of how the student voice can work in conjunction with administrative champions like Provosts Moran and Regehr to serve as a catalyst for improving mental health service delivery on campus. This will have an impact on Trinity\u2019s students for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Anne Steacy Counselling Initiative will enable the College to hire a full-time person to provide one-on-one support and mental health and wellness education and training. This professional will serve a vital function in integrating and enhancing existing Trinity supports and liaising with College, U of T and community resources. The person in this new role will also work closely with Trinity\u2019s embedded on-site clinical counsellor, registered psychologist Dr. Christine Cabrera, who joined Trinity in September (two days a week). Dr. Cabrera is a specialized U of T Health and Wellness trained counsellor. Ongoing support from leaders of U of T\u2019s Division of Health and Wellness have helped shape Trinity\u2019s new health and wellness programming.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlacing the counsellor outside of the clinical setting and into the community will increase access for students who may otherwise not seek out the professional support they need and help to de-stigmatize the act of asking for help,\u201d said Janine Robb, Executive Director of Health and Wellness at the St. George campus. \u201cSupporting students\u2019 needs by pairing prevention and capacity-building with counselling services, Trinity\u2019s new program will serve as a model for other colleges and faculties to adopt across the U of T campus.\u201d<\/p>\n
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