ISSUED: 6 November 2019
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University’s Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, TRiO Student Support Services, Counseling Services, Academic Community Outreach, and Office of Social Equity, Inclusion, and Title IX are sponsoring “Mental Health Summit: How to Navigate Mental Health Challenges” on Tuesday, November 19, from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. in the Student Center. The event is free and open to the public.
The summit will address issues surrounding adverse childhood experiences and their correlation between later symptoms or diagnoses of depression, anxiety, stress, and drug or alcohol abuse and how to navigate mental health challenges. During 25-minute breakout sessions between 11:20 a.m.-12:45 p.m., participants will rotate between rooms to have the opportunity to engage in dialog with clinical professionals. Topics covered in the breakout sessions will include anxiety and depression, facilitated by Shanan Spencer, Shepherd director of counseling; stress, facilitated by Wendy Baracka, Shepherd counselor; and relationships, facilitated by Rhonda Jackson, Shepherd counselor.
Lunch is scheduled from 12:45-1:45 p.m., and will be followed by a panel discussion from 1:45-3 p.m. featuring Jeremy Speer, West Virginia University School of Social Work Eastern Panhandle coordinator; Dr. Avery Bowman, trauma-informed yoga instructor; Karen Green, chair, Department of Social Work; Timothy Czaja, Berkeley County Council community corrections director; and Noel Spickler, community and family outreach coordinator, The Martinsburg Initiative.
For more information, contact Da’Shawn Long at dlong@shepherd.edu
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