By Erin Jester
Feeling stressed or overwhelmed before the next semester even starts?
UPTurn has your back.
Students in the University of Florida’s College of Public Health and Health Professions can access free, confidential health and wellness coaching via UPTurn, the college’s wellness initiative.
The program aims to promote student health and wellness so they can better manage academic, social, emotional and health-related stress and adjust to the new demands of college life. Undergraduate students, master’s students, Ph.D. students and professional program students in the College of Public Health and Health Professions are eligible.
“We are so pleased to be offering wellness services to students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels,” said UPTurn Director Deidre Pereira, Ph.D., an associate professor and associate chair in the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology. “We’ve worked hard to continually tailor and advance the program to meet the needs and desires of students in the college.”
UPTurn’s current advisers are clinical health and psychology doctoral students Shar Aghabeigi, M.S., and Jori Waner, M.S., supervised by Pereira, who is a licensed psychologist.
The program offers an initial consultation with a program adviser, who will create an individualized plan for getting support and resources based on the student’s stressors and goals. Students are eligible for up to four follow-up visits to review progress.
Advisers can meet with students online through Microsoft Teams or in person at the Health Professions, Nursing and Pharmacy building. All visits are 45 minutes long.
UPTurn offered one-time visits with advisers when the program was established two years ago, but students asked for more, leading Pereira and her team to increase the number of visits, Pereira said.
“They have expressed a need to more fully address how their emotional and social well-being may be impacting their unique academic experiences as students in the fields of public health and health professions,” Pereira said. “We are committed to continually using students’ feedback to grow the program, and we are very excited to now be brainstorming novel ways in which we can meet these newly articulated needs.”
Common problems an UPTurn adviser can help students manage include balancing academic success with personal wellness, getting good sleep, motivation and breaking free from unhealthy coping mechanisms.
If appropriate, advisers can also connect students with on- and off-campus psychotherapy resources, help navigate student services, provide psychoeducation about how to improve academic performance, decrease stress and support overall wellbeing, and engage in problem solving about students’ concerns.
Students who have participated in UPTurn appreciated advisers’ care in listening to stressors and suggesting resources for topics such as stress management, task prioritization, test anxiety and interpersonal relationships.
Students said they valued the program’s accessibility and the ability to work with an adviser over multiple sessions. They also found it helpful to talk to an adviser who could relate to undergraduate-specific experiences and stressors, “Because the advisers were undergrads not too long ago,” Waner said.
To learn more or request an appointment with an adviser, visit https://phhp.ufl.edu/student-resources/upturn-wellness-program/.
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, help is available. Visit the UF Counseling & Wellness Center’s Crisis Support website or call 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.