More Feet on the Ground

In-house Training

Ashley Humeniuk <amhumeni@ucalgary.ca>

Morefeetontheground.ca
• On-line resource on how to recognize, respond, and refer
students to the help they need.
• Modules on mental health, quizzes and links to resources
available at individual intuitions
• Key audience: non-clinical staff, faculty and student leaders
Adapted From

These slides have been adapted from:

o Morefeetontheground.ca
o University of Ottawa MFOTG presentation

3
Objectives: Recognize, Respond, Refer, Reflect
 Understand what mental health is and how it may affect a
student
 Identify (recognize) signs that a student needs support
 Describe and practice ways of responding to students
 Understand where to refer and connect students to supports on
campus
 Gain tools for reflection after supporting a student
Mental Health Continuum
ACTION: Recognize

Indicators that could suggest that a student is experiencing difficulty:

1. Physical Indicators
2. Academic Indicators
3. Behavioural Indicators
4. Safety Indicators
5. Emergency Indicators
ACTION: Recognize

• Deterioration in physical appearance

or personal hygiene
Physical • Excessive fatigue, exhaustion; falling
asleep in class repeatedly
Indicators • Visible changes in weight; statements
about changes in appetite or sleep
ACTION: Recognize

• Missed assignments, exams, or

appointments
Academic • Repeated absences
Indicators • Deterioration in quality or quantity of
work
ACTION: Recognize

• Direct statements indicating distress,

Behavioura family problems, or loss
l • Difficulty controlling emotions
• Angry or hostile outbursts, yelling, or
Indicators aggressive comments
ACTION: Recognize

• Written or oral statements that mention

despair, suicide, or death
• Severe hopelessness, helplessness,
Safety depression, social isolation, withdrawal
Indicators • Statements to the effect that the
student is “going away for a long time”
• Written or oral expressions of a desire
to injure or kill someone else
ACTION: Recognize

• The student is behaving in a physically

or verbally aggressive manner toward
themselves, others, property, or
Emergency animals
• The student is unresponsive to the
Indicators external environment
• The situation feels threatening or
dangerous to you
ACTION: Respond
If you have a Identify If you don’t know the
relationship, you may student student, you may
feel comfortable prefer to link them to
beginning a counselling/wellness
conversation department

Your decision about which path to choose may be influenced by:

• Your level of experience
• The nature and severity of the problem
• Your ability to give time to the situation
• A variety of other personal factors
TIME TO
ACTION: Respond

Steps for responding to indicators:

1. Set the stage
2. Ask permission
3. Start the conversation
4. Maintain professional boundaries
5. Safety risks
ACTION: Respond

• Speak to the student privately

• Be aware of your own body language
Set the and stress level
Stage • Set a positive tone
• Ensure you have time to listen
ACTION: Respond

• Share your concern and ask

permission to speak about it further:
Ask
Permission “I'm concerned about ... I wonder if
we could talk about ..."
ACTION: Respond

• Express your concern and caring.

• Point out specific behaviours you've
Start the observed (“I've noticed lately that you....")
• Ask open-ended questions
Conversatio • Ask, “How are things going for you?"
n • Listen attentively to the student's response
and encourage her/him to talk (“Tell me
more about that.")
ACTION: Respond

Maintainin • Your role is not to counsel

g • Respect confidentiality
• Avoid making sweeping promises
Professiona around confidentiality
l • Students do not need to disclose a
diagnosis
Boundaries
ACTION: Respond

• Students who are suicidal need swift

Safety Risk professional intervention
Practice: Responding

• Listening exercise
• Starting a conversation
 ACTION: Referral
You are not expected to take on the role of a counsellor, but you can refer students
to services that can help them. 

• Explain the limitations of your knowledge and experience and tell the student that
the referral resource has the appropriate ability and capacity to help.
• When referring a student to external services:
• Provide the name, phone number, and office location of the referral resource.
• As much as possible, try to normalize the need to ask for help.
• Convey a spirit of hopefulness and remind the student that troublesome
situations can and do get better.
• Realize that your offer of assistance may be rejected.
Referral: What is available on your campus?
What if someone does not want help?

• In all situations:
• Remember: It’s their choice
• Acknowledge choice & reinforce positive aspects of help
• Identify a person who would have influence
• Keep lines of communication open
Source: Initiative 1 in 5
Key Messages
• Getting support is normal
• Get support as early as possible
• "You don’t need to know everything about every service. Post-
secondary institutions are often the size of small cities. We are
likely to have the services you need, or we can support you in
accessing these services – reach out!"
Now its Your Turn
 Scenarios
•A student comes to your office hours crying. You have another student coming in
10 minutes and have to pick up your child from daycare. What would you do?
•You notice that a fellow student has stopped coming to the cafeteria for meals.
Soon after, they drop out of one of your collective classes. What would you do?
•As a residence don, you notice that a student who was once active in the social
committee has stopped attending meetings and participating in events. On
weekends, they never leave their room. How do you start a conversation?
Reflect: Best Practices

After an interaction with a student in distress, it is important to:

• Document key points (no recording of personal information –
confidentiality)
• Ensure privacy of the student
• Self-care (take a moment, reflect on your emotional state,
assess your need to engage in wellness activities)
• Consult (as needed or as per policy within your service)
 Reflect: Self-reflection
• People involved with, or exposed to, stress and trauma can
experience a range of emotional responses
• It is important to take care of your own well-being after offering
support to someone else
• Take some time to do some of the following:
• Debrief with a colleague or friend
• Reflect on the situation and remember that your role is not a counsellor
• Look out for physical/behavioural/emotional symptoms in your own self
that might indicate signs of struggling – seek external support for
yourself!
• Practice self-care
Wellness and Self-Care
• Meditation and mindfulness
• Exercise/physical activity
• Meeting social needs
• Maintaining physical well-being
• Positive work/life balance
• Eating well
• Create meaning/do things that are meaningful to you
Where to go outside of business hours?
Off campus 24/7:
• Good2Talk | Allo, J’écoute (1-866-925-5454)
• Free, confidential and anonymous helpline providing
professional counselling, information and referrals for mental
health, addictions and well-being to post-secondary students
in Ontario, 24/7/365.
• Connex
www.mentalhealthhelpline.ca
1-866-531-2600
Ways CICMH Can Support Your Learning
• Webinars
• Conferences
• Information sheets
• Campusmentalhealth.ca
• Morefeetontheground.ca
• Mental Health Works training (i.e., Compassion Fatigue)
Tying it all Together
• What have you learned today?
• Is there anything that you will stop/start/continue doing as a
result of this training?
• How does your learning today apply to your day to day work?
How are you going to apply what you
learned today?
• Create your own plan
Contact Us
Marija Padjen, MSW Pauline Spiess 
Director   Bilingual Knowledge Exchange Coordinator
mpadjen@campusmentalhealth.ca pspiess@campusmentalhealth.ca

Pearlyn Ng Mahreen Dasoo

Research and Knowledge Exchange Communication and Stakeholder
Coordinator Coordinator
png@campusmentalhealth.ca mdasoo@campusmentalhealth.ca

Websites:
www.campusmentalhealth.ca
www.morefeetontheground.ca