Personal Wellness Supports

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Campus Updates – Wednesday, April 2 & Thursday, April 3

Due to inclement weather on Wednesday, April 2, all in-person classes at Sutherland Campus from 5 p.m. onward are cancelled. All Fleming campuses and offices are scheduled to reopen on Thursday, April 3, with classes and operations resuming as usual. Please check back for further updates.

Updated: 2025-04-02 16:29:36

Personal Wellness Supports

Need to check in?

We are here for you.

We are facing an unprecedented challenge together, as a united College community. This information hub, organized by Counselling and Accessible Education Services, has a variety of resources, modules and apps to help promote personal and mental wellness. New and existing resources are easy to find and access right here.

If you are in crisis and need to talk to someone right away, please use one of the following 24/7 emergency counselling services:

Supporting the Fleming Community

Fleming employees who need help in managing stress, or want to access a range of emotional or personal wellness supports can get in touch with the College’s confidential Employee Assistance Program at 1-800-461-9722.

See the Family Assistance program page for more information.

Counselling Services

Individual counselling appointments are available via telephone and WebEx. Coping with college life in addition to dealing with personal circumstances can be stressful. Personal Wellness Counselling is available to any student experiencing any concerns that may be interfering with your success as a student, or with your sense of well-being. Contact 705-749-5530 ext 1527 to get started.

We Are Here For You

Feeling isolated or lonely? Counselling has 5 quick tips to help bust the lonliness blues.

Additional Resources

We Speak Student
- Access benefits under the "student wellness program" tab.

Mind Beacon

A self-directed free program for students who would like to meet with a Counsellor via text anytime (no face-to-face).

 

Health Services

Health Services is currently staffed and nurses are available at the Sutherland and Frost campuses for student consultations. Please leave a message and staff will return your call during business hours. Where appropriate, nurses may be able to connect you via phone to one of our college physicians.
Sutherland Campus: 705-749-5557 ext. 5504
Frost Campus: 705-324-9144 ext. 3232

Additional Health Resources For International Students

Morcare
OHIP alternative insurance for international students provides coverage for medically necessary hospital and medical services

Covid-19 Pandemic-Specific Coping Resources
Canadian Psychological Association

“Psychology Works” Fact Sheet: Coping with and Preventing COVID-19

American Psychological Association

APA COVID-19 Information and Resources

Psychology Today

How to Stay Emotionally Healthy During the Coronavirus Outbreak

Anxiety Canada

What to do if you’re anxious or worried about coronavirus

Crisis and Trauma Resource Institute: Mental Health & Resilience During COVID-19

COVID-19 Health Literacy Project

COVID-19 Fact Sheet
Fact sheets related to COVID-19 in 35 languages including English, French

Coronavirus Anxiety: Coping with Stress, Fear, and Uncertainty Wellness Together Canada

Tools and resources to help get Canadians back on track. These include modules for addressing low mood, worry, substance use, social isolation and relationship issues.

Crisis Lines And Online Chat Supports

Black Youth Helpline 1-833-294-8650

Naseeha is a 24/7 resource for Muslim and non-muslim individuals providing a confidential, safe zone for mental health-related assistance. Texting available. 1-866-627-3342

Talk4Healing is a culturally grounded, fully confidential helpline for Indigenous women available in 14 languages all across Ontario. 1.855.554.HEAL Live Chat Option

LGBT Youthline offers confidential and non-judgmental peer support through phone, text and chat services. Get in touch with a peer support volunteer from Sunday to Friday 4pm - 9:30pm 1.800.268.9688 Text 647.694.4275 Live Chat Option

Trans Lifeline is a peer support service run by trans people, for trans and questioning callers. If you are in crisis or just need someone to talk to, this hotline is available to support you and provide further resources. 1.877.330.6366

The Hope for Wellness helpline offers immediate help to all Indigenous peoples across Canada.
It is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to offer:

  • counselling
  • crisis intervention

Call the toll-free Help Line at 1-855-242-3310 or connect to the online chat at www.hopeforwellness.ca.

Telecare Peterborough

705-745-2273
This is a free, anonymous and strictly confidential 24-hour call line for people in need of a friendly person who will listen.
24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

First Nations and Inuit Hope for Wellness Help Line

1-855-242-3310
This resource offers immediate mental health counselling and crisis intervention to all Indigenous peoples across Canada
24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Service is available in Cree, Ojibway, Inuktitut, English and French.

Big White Wall

Online mental health and well-being service offers self-help programs, creative outlets and online community support. Provides a safe and anonymous peer support community that is offered 24/7 and is moderated by clinical professionals.

Anxiety Canada
Provides an array of audio, video and other resources to help people understand and reduce anxiety.

Bounce Back
Free skill-building program managed by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA). It is designed to help adults and youth 15+ manage low mood, mild to moderate depression and anxiety, stress or worry. Delivered over the phone with a coach and through online videos, students will get access to tools that will support them on their path to mental wellness.

Kids Help Phone
Text "connect" to 686868
In partnership with Crisis Text Line and Shout, mental health support is now available to those working the frontlines from Kids Help Phone To access service, text FRONTLINE to 74141

Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre (KSAC)
1-866-298-7778
The Crisis Support Line is a confidential service available 24-hours a day, seven days a week, including weekends and holidays Unconditional and nonjudgmental support and information is available to individuals of both recent and historical sexual assault, as well as other forms of sexual violence.

Drug and Alcohol Helpline
Telephone: 705-748-5901
Text: 705-710-5234
1-800-565-8603

Mental Health Helpline
1-866-531-2600

Ontario Problem Gambling Helpline
1-888-230-3505

Well-Being

Managing stress and anxiety in times of heightened uncertainty is something we are all facing. Here are some helpful apps, exercises and resources to build resilience.

Apps

MindShift CBT by Anxiety Canada is a free app that uses scientifically proven strategies based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help you learn to relax and be mindful, develop more effective ways of thinking, and use active steps to take charge of your anxiety.

Self-Help for Anxiety Management is free app that offers a range of self-help methods for people who are serious about learning to manage their anxiety.

Courses

Essential Self-Care and Resilience - Wilfrid Laurier University has created a self-paced course with material from our Positive Psychology Certificate to boost your well-being during these difficult times. Get more information about the course and how to register.

Exercises And Modules

Audio Exercises for Managing Stress and Anxiety - guided exercises for managing stress and anxiety through mindful awareness, breathing, and simple movements from the Crisis & Trauma Resource Institute.

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Clinic at Rutgers University (DBT-RU) has a YouTube page with resources for practicing DBT skills. The playlist below, DBT Crisis Survival Skills, includes videos narrated by Dr. Rizvi, who guides the audience through using three core DBT Skills: ACCEPTS, IMPROVE, and PLEASE Skills.

Antidepressant Skills Workbook is a self-care manual based on scientific research about which strategies work best in managing depression. It provides an overview of depression, explains how it can be effectively managed, and gives a step-by-step guide to changing patterns that trigger depression.

Intolerance of Uncertainty Information and Worksheet

Accepting Uncertainty Module by the Centre for Clinical Interventions

What is Anxiety?

Stay Connected. Stay Calm,and Have Fun!

Additional Meditation, Mindfulness And Relaxation Resources

Calm is a meditation, sleep and relaxation app, available in both the App Store and Google Play store. Calm creates unique audio content that strengthens mental fitness and tackles some of the biggest mental health challenges of today: stress, anxiety, insomnia, and depression. As a result of COVID-19, Calm has put together a page of free resources for anyone to use. For anyone who would like to try the app, Calm offers a 7-day free trial.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation will help you to lower your overall tension and stress levels, and help you relax when you are feeling anxious. It can also help reduce physical problems such as stomach aches and headaches, as well as improve your sleep.

Cosmic Kids Yoga and Mindfulness is a YouTube page with yoga, mindfulness, and relaxation videos designed for kids.

Yoga with Adriene offers hundreds of free yoga videos of varying lengths.

UCSD Center for Mindfulness is providing daily streams and recordings of mindfulness and compassion sessions to help cope with the current situation.

Layola University RELAX Online is an interactive tool, narrated by Counseling Center Staff, that features videos, soothing visuals, and music.

Meditative Mind - guided meditations and soothing music

Honest Guys - guided meditations and soothing music

MindShift – CBT App from Anxiety CanadaHeadspace – Mindfulness and Sleep Support

Insight Timer – Guided Meditation for Sleep and Anxiety

Exercise And Yoga

Fleming Student Administrative Council is hosting events on their Facebook Page and daily fitness classes online to help de-stress and have some fun!

Custom Fit Vitality classes are at 8 a.m. here (you can also access the class later to replay it)

Join Live Fitness Coaching with Cait Lynch by registering in advance here

YMCA 360: On-Demand Videos wants to make sure people stuck at home due to the COVID-19 outbreak can still get the exercise they need for free.

University of Toronto MoveU team has created a number of excellent workout videos that you can do in your own spaces. Check them out on the MoveU website.

Yoga with Adriene offers hundreds of free yoga videos of varying lengths.

Cosmic Kids Yoga and Mindfulness is a YouTube page with yoga, mindfulness, and relaxation videos designed for kids.

Leisure And Fun

Netflix Party is a Chrome extension for watching Netflix remotely with friends. It synchronizes video playback and adds group chat.

pop.in: It's Game Night! It’s all about playing live games with other people, just like going to a party at a friend’s house.

Houseparty Join the face-to-face social network where you can connect and play games with the people you care about most.

At home cooking club videos posted twice a week, free .

Origami projects for all skill levels

Live Feed Check out the aquarium animals (Monterey Bay Aquarium) Visit Ripley's Aquarium virtually with live events and live cams!

The Toronto Zoo facebook page has live videos every day at 1pm. Get up close, feed all the animals and ask questions.

The Social Distancing Festival Artists post clips or livestreams of their performances.

Berkeley Library Many libraries are opening their eLibrary resources.

Podcast Explore recordings of different places in nature.

More Information On Services Available For Fleming Students

Student Services

Coach

Your source for Health, Wellness+Athletics Tips

Counselling, Health Services and Athletics and Recreation have teamed up to bring you a weekly communication series called Coach. Coach is here to help you maintain connections, and a greater understanding of wellness while studying remotely.

Tips will focus on mental health, staying physically active, good nutrition, and coping with stress. We may be socially apart, but we are still together as a Fleming community. We hope Coach will help you connect virtually, develop new skills, and embrace different experiences, while continuing to strive for your goals.

Coach – Tip Sheet Week #8: Feeling low

Are you feeling low? We have all been there!

There are days when everything seems challenging to face and achieve. You are going to face a lot of hardships in your life.

Everyone feels low or down from time to time and that is quite normal. We've all experienced situations in which we have felt upset, angry, worried or sad.

Feeling low is particularly common after a distressing event or major life change like the death of someone close, unemployment or a relationship breakdown.

Sometimes it is possible to feel down without there being an obvious reason.

Coach – Tip Sheet Week #7: Sleep

Four Ways to Soothe Nighttime Anxiety

Encourage positive distractions: Distract yourself with “interesting and engaging imagery,” involving as many of your senses as possible. An example could be to close your eyes and picture a nice beach. Can you hear the crashing of waves? Feel the sun on your skin? Taste the salt from the sea?

Allow worrisome thoughts: It is not uncommon to become fixated on something stressful that is happening the next day. It could be a test, a job interview, or a confrontation with a family member. We often want to push these thoughts from our mind. However, it may result in doing so may hurt more than it helps. Consider what comes after the big event. Remember the mundane tasks that follow something stressful. This might be going out for a walk with a friend after your interview or going grocery shopping after you’ve had the hard conversation. This can help you recognize that the panic will pass.

Practice nightly mindfulness - Generally, when we’re wide awake worrying, we’re focused on something that’s happening in the future. Mindfulness can be a powerful solution as it directs your attention towards what is happening in the present. It is an opportunity to focus on your breathing. It may also be helpful to focus on a physical sensation like how warm and soft your blankets feel. Try a body-scan meditation to relax both your body and mind.

Focus on gratitude - Focusing on the good can evoke pleasant emotions and help soothe you to sleep. For example, rather than thinking what might go wrong, try to focus your attention on small things you are looking forward to. You might reflect on something that has happened over the last week that you are grateful for. It can be comforting to think of a positive/kind person in your life, or nice deeds other people have done for you. Sometimes feeling fortunate for that person can lessen worry and help you sleep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=169&v=FulTaDhEtDY&feature=emb_title

https://my.happify.com/hd/science-of-sleep-infographic/

https://my.happify.com/hd/3-sleep-rituals-that-will-help-you-sleep-like-a-baby-tonight/

Coach – Tip Sheet Week #6: Resilience and Change

Building resilience to manage change:

How we navigate change and transition depends, in large part, on how resilient we are. Resilience is the ability to recover from difficult experiences and setbacks, to adapt, move forward and sometimes even experience growth. You can think of resilience as a set of skills that can be, and often is, learned. Part of the skill-building comes from exposure to very difficult but manageable situations. For instance, as we move through COVID 19, how do we manage with the changes we encounter.

Many, many resilient people learn to carefully accept what they cannot change about a situation and then ask themselves what they can change.

Inspiration for nurturing resilience

  • Embrace challenges as opportunities for growth. When you’re facing adversity, practice asking yourself, “What can I learn here?” or “How can I bring meaning to this situation?”
  • Recognize Your Signs of Stress. Where do you feel stress in your body? What are some of the bad habits you engage in when feeling stressed?
  • Identify and Use Your Strengths. Describe a time when you were able to overcome or handle a major challenge in life. What did you learn about yourself? What personal strengths did you draw upon? Draw upon an image of when you were the most resilient. How might you apply this strength now?
  • Build a support network. We are not meant to deal with life’s challenges alone. Begin to identify your sources of support at home, work, school and in the community. Practice good communication and conflict resolutions skills. This will allow you to create a caring community.
  • Take good care of your physical body. What kind of small changes can you invest in to improve your health? (Better sleep, better nutrition, hydration, exercise, etc.) List one small change you can make now.
  • Engage in meaningful activities. Notice what happened in your day that was meaningful on a regular basis. What kinds of activities did you find meaningful? Identify activities that put you in the flow. (Enjoyable things you do that cause you to lose track of time.)

Additional readings - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/29/smarter-living/coronavirus-how-to-stay-optimistic-.html

https://youtu.be/HO3XAVx8kW8

Coach – Tip Sheet Week #5: Mind Set

Mental Health Mind-set – Fixed & Growth in Failure and Moving forward

7 Tips for Cultivating a Growth Mindset

  1. Aim for gradual growth.
  2. Remind yourself that skills can be cultivated through your efforts, strategies, and help from others.
  3. Understand neuroplasticity.
  4. Look at examples of others who have improved.
  5. Learn from your mistakes.
  6. Make a list of challenges you have overcome.
  7. Check out: Dweck, C.S. (2016). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York, NY: Random House.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiiEeMN7vbQ

https://my.happify.com/hd/the-secret-to-success-authentic-grit/

Coach – Tip Sheet Week #4: The Great Outdoors

Seven Ways to Appreciate Nature:

  1. Slow your steps and enjoy. Consider a saunter or strolling for pleasure, not getting to a destination in a hurry.
  2. Opportunity to feel each of your senses. Tune in using your whole body: the warm air on your face, the sound of birds, the fragrances of flowers and earthy smell of soil, the texture of leaves. Feel each sensation.
  3. Think small. Spread out a blanket and spend time lying on your stomach while looking through a camera. Viewing the world from a different perspective.
  4. Notice tiny details. Sometimes we focus too much on the big picture and miss the small one.
  5. Change your point of view. Look up, look down, sweep your eyes from left to right. And use more than just your vision. Listen to the crunch of your feet as you walk.
  6. Go lightly. When you are out in nature, nothing is required but your presence. Put away your need to do anything and completely mute your cell phone.
  7. Stay awhile. Pick your spot, get comfortable, and resist the urge to move on.
Coach – Tip Sheet Week #3: Virtual Programing

Many of us spend hours each day on our social media platforms. Constant engagement is accelerated with our smart phones and this impacts students’ identities, experiences, and mental health.

Healthy Ideas For Using Social Media

Support a healthy community. Consider asking yourself the following questions before commenting while you are online.

a. Is it true?
b. Is it necessary?
c. Is it kind?

  1. Live in the moment. Taking photos and video clips have a place but awareness of the present moment is crucial in connecting and experiencing the world around us.
  2. Connecting instead of comparing. Comparing ourselves to other people can make you unhappy over time. Genuine connections with others can enhance your overall wellbeing. Take a moment to do something that connects you. For example, reach out to an old friend or an elderly relative and send them a message of kindness.
  3. Follow people and things that bring you joy. A great deal of social media content may represent lifestyles and attitudes that do not exist. Knowing how social media affects our relationships, we might limit social media interactions to those who you are close to. Instead of passively scrolling through never-ending posts, we can ask ourselves -What is this online realm doing to me and my relationships?
  4. If social media creates stress, consider deleting apps from your phone such as Facebook and Instagram so you do not have easy access.
  5. Prioritize time spent with friends and family over time spent scrolling through social media.
  6. Take a break and support others in doing so. If your friend is struggling with social media use and wants a break from it, support your friend and do not make fun of them. Join them in the break.
Coach – Tip Sheet Week #2

What do Jake Gyllenhaal, Oprah, Mark Ruffalo and Gwyneth Paltrow have in common (other than massive fame)? They love to garden! This week we will go over the benefits of gardening including mindful gardening, physical activity and nutrition.

Late May to early June is a great time to start a garden or lend your time to the local community garden. Gardening is an activity that promotes mindfulness, meditation, healthy nutrition, and adds physical exercise to your day in a fun and challenging way. Be sure to look at the resources at the bottom for a list of local community gardens that you can access and workshops in your area.

Coach – Tip Sheet Week #1

Physical Activity

It can seem difficult to continue or begin to incorporate physical activity into your daily routine during this time. Physical activity benefits the mind and body: positively impacting your mood, while reducing anxiety and keeping your body healthy.

4 ways to incorporating physical activity into your daily routine:

  1. Set a goal to incorporate 30 minutes or more of physical activity per day
  2. Take short physical breaks to walk around the house and stretch. Check out this link for some great stretches - https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/6499/flexibility-exercises-for-beginners.
    Here you will find 10 benefits of stretching: https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/professional/expert-articles/6387/10-reasons-why-you-should-be-stretching/
  3. Join the free virtual fitness classes offered to Fleming students https://www.customfitvitality.com/fleming/
  4. Take a 30-minute walk outside and enjoy the fresh air.

Would you like more information on incorporating physical activity into your day? Check out this informative article from the World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/news-room/campaigns/connecting-the-world-to-combat-coronavirus/healthyathome/healthyathome---physical-activity

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