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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Between the therapy dogs, "drunk goggles," and the art therapy, it was hoped that balance would be felt and maintained on the Faulkner University campus.
Wellness Week, sponsored by the university and its Counseling Center, is meant to encourage all students, faculty and staff to be more aware of the need to regularly nourish the mental, physical and spiritual aspects of their personal lives and to offer a positive, non-threatening introduction to the counseling center, where deeper and more sustained growth assistance is provided.
"It's mid-terms, and what an opportunity for our counseling center to be proactive and preventative," said Jean-Noel Thompson, vice president of student services and dean of students at Faulkner. "It's not just about, 'Hey, come see us.' It's about, 'Let's think about things that will help prevent any unhealthy challenges in your life.'
"So we're really just trying to be proactive and transparent at this point."
On Wednesday, therapy dogs visited the campus, and greeted students next to the Student Commons.
Vicky Potter held Lucius, and said the dogs were part of Dogs on Call, a therapy dog group that falls under Alabama Easter Seals.
"They are out at Faulkner to provide some stress release for some of the students," she said. "The students are always thrilled to see the dogs. It just brightens everybody's days. Certainly the dogs' days. The therapy dogs provide emotional support to people, just to make them happy."
Plus, they have a calming effect, Thompson said.
"For some reason, it captures them and brings about a natural sense of care and nurture and helps relieve some of the stress," he said. "Something as simple as petting a dog will bring them to a point of calm and put life into perspective. And so we're trying every level of strategy to say, 'Enjoy the good parts of life and understand opportunity to really be healthy in all that you're doing.'"
And that includes staying drug free.
Karen Wright with the Council on Substance Abuse was on campus Wednesday as part of Wellness Week, and brought "drunk goggles" for students to test, which gives them the illusion and feeling that they have had a couple of alcoholic drinks.
"It just (distorts) your vision," she said. "We also have brochures on different drugs, marijuana, cocaine. We are educating the students. Substance abuse is a big issue and it is in every family. It's to educate the students on preventing it and not going down that road. They're at the age where they are impressionable and they are trying different things."
And because of that, Michelle Bond, director of the university's counseling center, wanted to make sure the center's counselors provided a positive spin to counseling and making themselves available "in a format that is promoting positive experiences like art therapy and the therapy dogs. We hope to incorporate this every semester."
Bond said students often walk on to campus with family dysfunctions and family baggage and then "they are here in a new transition and they add the stress of independence of getting to class on their own and all the transitions to college life and that seems to spike the already-existing issues they may have and increase the stress levels tremendously.
"Most people will not voluntarily come in unless they are in a crisis. Balance really is the key to all of this, just really trying to incorporate the mind, body and soul. And we hope this will send that message."
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Information from: Montgomery Advertiser, http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com
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