Graduate Mentoring and Mental Health

The Graduate School continues its professional development workshop series for faculty with a session focused on Graduate Mentoring and Mental Health. Leading the workshop will be Cory Wallack, Ph.D., executive director of health and wellness at the Barnes Center at The Arch. Peter Vanable, Graduate School dean and professor of psychology, will serve as the facilitator. Dean Vanable will discuss the scope of graduate student mental health challenges with reference to current data, and address the critical importance of the advising relationship in terms of student success and vulnerability to mental health concerns. Dr. Wallack will describe some of the ways that mental health issues are likely to manifest in graduate students; if, when and how to make a referral; and the various interventions and treatment options available through the Barnes Center and other resources at the University and beyond.

Drawing on representative case histories and polling data from participants, the workshop will prompt reflection and engagement around complex issues, such as negotiating proximity and distance in the mentoring dynamic, culturally inflected understandings of mental health and the possible coexistence of mental health challenges for faculty mentors.