Emotional Wellbeing Workshops

Emotional Wellbeing Workshops will help you grow and Learn by Doing!   These workshops offer quick, effective solutions and useful tools for common concerns like anxiety (Anxiety Toolbox), relationships (BRIDGE), and depression (Getting Unstuck).   We know your schedules are full – these workshops are designed to be high value, helping you learn new skills and gain insight while connecting with other students. 

Each Emotional Wellbeing Workshop is a three-session series that meets once per week for three weeks.  Each meeting is 50  minutes.  All workshops come with a workbook to help you practice new skills and apply ideas in between sessions.   There is no charge for workshops at Cal Poly – your student health fees cover this service.  We ask that you commit to the full series when you sign up and attend each session, as they build on one another.

You are free to do more than one workshop and to repeat them as often as you like!  If you are interested in attending any (or all!) of the workshops, schedule a Brief Screening and tell the counselor you meet with.  If you are already seeing a therapist at Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS), tell them you are interested in a workshop, and they'll get you connected.  

Call us today at 805-756-2511 to get started.

Anxiety Toolbox focuses on helping you understand anxiety symptoms and build skills to manage these symptoms. The sessions include modules dedicated to: (1) understanding anxiety, (2) introducing a method for slowing down and disentangling the experience of anxiety, and (3) developing alternative responses to anxiety.  By the end of the workshop, you will have your own individualized plan for managing anxiety.  

Anxiety Toolbox Student Workbook

Recognition, Insight, Openness (RIO) focuses on building skills and creating flexibility in how you respond to distress. The sessions include modules dedicated to: (1) helping you gain a deeper understanding of your concerns, (2) creating flexibility in how you view and approach these issues, and (3) helping you take steps toward living with a wide range of emotions.  By the end of the workshop, you will have a better sense of your personal values and how you want to focus your energy.  

RIO Student Workbook

 

Recordings of guided meditations used in RIO from the CAPS YouTube channel.

 

Full-length video clips of each RIO session, hosted by Florida International University (Go Panthers!).

 

Workshop	Day	Dates	Time	Facilitator	Location
RIO	Tuesday	1/21, 1/28, 2/4	11:00am-12:00pm	Dr. Isaac Brandt	Virtual
RIO	Tuesday	1/28, 2/4, 2/11	9:00-10:00am	Dr. Jenn Armstrong	Virtual
RIO	Friday	2/7, 2/14, 2/21	1:00-2:00pm	Ms. Cheri Love	CAPS
RIO	Wednesday	2/12, 2/19, 2/26	1:00-2:00pm	Dr. Diana Menendez	CAPS
RIO	Thursday	2/20, 2/27, 3/6	3:00-4:00pm	Dr. Ana Cabezas	Virtual
RIO	Monday	2/24, 3/3, 3/10	11:00am-12:00pm	Dr. Sarah Colwell	Virtual
RIO	Wednesday	2/26, 3/5, 3/12	10:00-11:00am	Dr. Paul Carbajal	Virtual

 

Getting Unstuck focuses on helping you understand depressive symptoms and build skills to manage these symptoms. The sessions include modules dedicated to: (1) understanding depression, (2) exploring how thoughts and behaviors impact depression, and (3) addressing how you can begin to make changes to thoughts and behaviors in order to better manage depression.  By the end of the workshop, you will have your own individualized plan for getting unstuck!  

Getting Unstuck Student Workbook
 

Workshop	Day	Dates	Time	Facilitator	Location
Getting Unstuck	Tuesday	1/21, 1/28, 2/4	3:00-4:00pm	Dr. Alison Aylward	Virtual
Getting Unstuck	Thursday	1/30, 2/6, 2/13	1:00-2:00pm	Dr. Shala Cole	Virtual
Getting Unstuck	Wednesday	2/5, 2/15, 2/19	10:00-11:00am	Ms. Johneen Manno	Virtual
Getting Unstuck	Friday	2/14, 2/21, 2/28	11:00am-12:00pm	Ms. Shawna Dobson	Virtual
Getting Unstuck	Tuesday	2/18, 2/25, 3/4	3:00-4:00pm	Dr. Paloma Moran	CAPS
Getting Unstuck	Monday	2/24, 3/3, 3/10	1:00-2:00pm	Dr. Isaac Brandt	CAPS

BRIDGE (Building Relationship Intimacy and Dialogue Effectiveness) focuses on identifying ways to foster healthy relationships via self-monitoring, effective communication, and conflict resolution skills. The sessions include modules dedicated to help you: (1) better understand your values and boundaries in relationships, (2) learn the role of culture in communication, different styles of communication, and strategies for effective communication, and (3) identify common causes of conflict and effective conflict management techniques.

BRIDGE Student Workbook
 

Seeking Serenity is informed by dialectical behavior therapy and is designed for students who experience overwhelming emotions that feel difficult to manage. The sessions include modules dedicated to: (1) distress tolerance, (2) emotion regulation, and (3) mindfulness.  By the end of the workshop, you will have strategies for better managing overwhelming emotions.

Please note that, depending on the severity of your symptoms, you may be required to be concurrently enrolled in individual counseling (either through CAPS or off campus) in order to participate in Seeking Serenity.  Your initial consultation counselor will discuss this with you prior to enrollment.

Seeking Serenity Student Workbook
 

Nourish is a three-session group that was created to be helpful in learning how to recognize and better manage eating disorder symptoms. The main goals of Nourish are to allow students to develop more awareness of the impact of their eating disorder and to develop tools to begin to heal. Since treatment for eating disorders tends to be multi-faceted (e.g., individual psychotherapy, group psychotherapy, monitoring by a medical provider and Registered Dietician, etc.) and may require longer term treatment, Nourish is considered a supplement to individual therapy and focuses on providing psychoeducation about eating disorders, discussing individual motivations for change, and starting to design treatment strategies that are specific to each student.

Nourish Student Workbook
 

Recliam! is a 3-session workshop that focuses on helping you understand trauma’s impact on the brain and nervous system and on building skills to manage your symptoms. The sessions include modules dedicated to: (1) understanding trauma, (2) introducing a method for tracking nervous system cues to manage your trauma symptoms, and (3) creating a wellness plan to manage your trauma symptoms. By the end of the workshop, you will have a better sense of how trauma impacts your day to day life and how to use lifestyle habits and coping tools to improve quality of life.  Feel free to download a PDF copy of the Reclaim! Student Workbook. 

Reclaim! Student Workbook