You are overwhelmed by the rise in student wellbeing and mental health needs. It’s one of those wicked problems in higher education; you don’t have the bandwidth or enough know-how to solve it all on your own, but you really wish you did.
You’ve been part of attempts to put together resource packs, pastoral support and one-off workshops to try and stem the flow of stressed-out students turning up at your door worried about the lectures they’re missing and the deadlines they’re falling behind on because they just can’t get a grip on their wellbeing. Those quick fixes and stop gaps are not enough and you are tearing your hair out wondering what will actually make a difference.
The good news is that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. There are tools and strategies that really do work. Of course, you don’t have time to go digging for the gold and scour the internet for the best of the best, so The SLI has done that for you. Right here in this blog you’ll find everything you need to know about which tools and strategies help to improve resilience, wellbeing and happiness.
Say hello to your new best friend: Positive Psychology – the science of improving wellbeing and happiness. It’s exactly what your students need right now.
Positive psychology took off in the 1990’s when Martin Seligman reflected that he had spent years studying the causes of depression, helplessness, pessimism and other barriers to wellbeing. Whilst it did help him to treat and support his patients, he wanted to move past fighting fires (sound familiar?)
Seligman decided that it was time to shift into researching and promoting the factors that led to a happy life. Since then, there has been a boom in studies which identify the universal factors which help us to enhance our wellbeing and the practical tools that we can apply to our lives.
In 2012 Seligman[1] presented the PERMA model which identifies five factors which have a significant positive impact on wellbeing.
Since then, other positive psychologists have added factors which contribute to effective wellbeing such as exercise, sleep, positive mindset, nutrition, handling stress constructively and living out your personal values.
Positive psychology is not about fighting fires… but those fires still exist for your students and they need to be equipped to handle them in ways which look after their wellbeing. Failing to do so could lead students to turn to short term coping mechanisms that diminish their wellbeing. The 2011 Grand Challenges in Student Mental Health report found that both University staff and counsellors listed ‘students use of alcohol and drugs to manage stress and depression’ as one of their top 10 challenges.
Your students will be more resilient when they are able to
Lots of your students may currently feel like life is just ‘happening to them’ and this sense of powerlessness in the face of stress is a huge barrier to wellbeing. Training students to be more aware of their stress response and how to manage it constructively lifts a huge weight so that they have more bandwidth for the other factors which support their wellbeing.
“The biggest take away from the programme is that I am in control of my reaction to things, my thoughts and actions. I now feel that I speak to myself more positively and I take time and bring myself back into the moment and remind myself what I am in control of and focus on that.” – Rebecca Brown
A powerful way that your students can reduce their stress levels and enhance their positive emotions is to regularly meditate. Studies have shown that participants who go through courses of mindfulness training benefit from reductions in stress, depression and anxiety as well as increases in their sense of personal accomplishment, quality of sleep, self-compassion and relaxation[2].
In a world which encourages students to spend a lot of time worrying about the past or planning ahead for the future, training themselves to focus on the present is a powerful way to protect their wellbeing.
Bringing gratitude into your daily life is huge. In fact, most positive psychologists recommend gratitude as the top activity for a happier life because of how effective yet simple it is. Various experiments have found that when participants take a short amount of time each day to reflect on what they are grateful for they report:
And it’s no different for your students. Once they are taught the rationale and various ways to embed gratitude in their daily lives they report immediate benefits:
“The biggest thing I took away from the programme was gratitude – You can put a positive spin on all things that happen in your life! It has made me look out for the things that make me happy and search for them more.” – David Buxton
“The programme showed me the importance of gratitude and the practice of taking time to reflect and make a note of good experiences and achievements. I think that I might be noticing and remembering positive things more than I did before, and I am holding on to an awareness of my own strengths and qualities for longer as opposed to immediately sliding back into self-deprecation.” – Joseph Micallef
Resilience is all about being able to bounce back from challenges – and challenges are inevitable in life. Your students’ resilience muscles can be strengthened if they are taught:
When students actively improve their resilience, it means that they are better equipped to navigate the tricky life circumstances that are thrown their way:
“I have been more optimistic and able to look at opportunities in struggles. I feel like I have the courage and strength to overcome obstacles and manifest happiness and gratitude.” – Rupal Maru
If student loneliness is on the rise, then the best cure is to support our students in forming meaningful and healthy connections with others. There’s a lot of ways that can be achieved and many universities will already provide give-it-a-go activities for students to meet each other, speed networking, social spaces and even consent training to ensure romantic relationships are healthy.
Giving students tools to help them nurture their relationships, express gratitude and make time for their relationships is a great first step which leads to reflections like this:
“I have realised how much I miss and appreciate the people in my life, who are there for me to either challenge me or to make things easier for me, and I am making sure that I let them know that I am grateful for what they have done for me.” – Adam Parker
What really boosts students’ wellbeing is having people in their lives who value, love and support them. That’s deep stuff which takes time to develop and requires levels of trust and vulnerability which can feel difficult for young people to navigate (and many adults for that matter!) To get there, your students can gradually learn to be emotionally literate, express their feelings and needs, build trust with others and develop their self-confidence enough to open up and be more vulnerable with the people who matter most to them in life.
“What’s made this programme so impactful has been the openness from each individual and how collectively we helped each other.” – Clive Matthews
“Gemma enabled an open discussion about the topics and created an environment where people felt safe to share and grow, which is an incredible thing.” – Rebecca Brown
You are probably thinking, “Sure these wellbeing tools sound good. But they can’t fix everything for students.”
And you are right. The list of worries your students have is almost too long to spell out. Your students’ wellbeing and mental health is affected by a whole range of social, emotional, physical, demographic, political and environmental factors – not all of which you can tackle. Of course, what may be most affecting one student may not be as relevant to another. And some of these factors can have compounding effects.
Your students are dealing with…
… and they’re understandably struggling with the pressure to succeed in their studies and get a ‘good’ job at the end on top of all this. It’s a lot. In fact, it’s too much and we know it’s not fair.
As a society we need to be tackling the structural and social causes of these issues so that students aren’t burdened with so much when they are supposed to be enjoying the formative years of their lives.
However, whilst we are working towards a fairer and more just society, students can learn to take elements of their wellbeing into their own hands. Sonia Lyubomirsky[9] and her colleagues say that happiness is determined by three factors; our genetics, our circumstances and how we intentionally choose to spend our time. Numerous experiments have shown that when participants engage in intentional wellbeing activities over a period of time, their happiness, wellbeing and resilience measurably improve compared to the group who did not engage in those activities.
We absolutely can’t do anything about our students’ genetics. Also, we may have a hard time changing students’ external circumstances right now – though provision of better support and tackling the causes of stress is a good start.
But we most definitely can educate and empower our students to engage in the tried and tested activities that improve their wellbeing. And when we do they say things like this:
“Over the weeks I felt more positive knowing there are tools that I can use to increase my happiness and that I can put in more effort to make me happier.” – Emma Dallamore
“I’m taking away loads of tools for a happy and aware life, which will keep me on a happy track when life takes me to a dark place. Giving the small, nice things power has made my life lighter and happier.” – Rishikesh Raut
Knowing what really works is important if we are going to find a sustainable way to tackle the student wellbeing crisis. It’s reassuring to know that there are already research backed skills that your students can develop to bolster their resilience:
Having these skills at their disposal won’t make all of the challenges disappear, but it will mean that your students are better able to manage those challenges so that they can still have a fruitful university experience.
The next step (or maybe it feels like a hurdle) is actually getting these skills to your students. You’ll be relieved to know that The Self Leadership Initiative has done the leg work for you by pulling together these research backed tools into the 8 week Building Resilience and Wellbeing Programme.
And, previous participants of the programme prove that it works. They experienced:
“It was so empowering to know that I can be more resilient. I changed my mindset to turn failures into learning opportunities for growth. It has helped me to approach daily life things with a fresh, positive perspective and has given me effective tools to deal with scenarios I previously would have found difficult. I would say my wellbeing has improved by at least 50%, which to me is incredible.” – Alastair Leverton
“I definitely see a more positive me and I feel more confident in my abilities. I feel like my mental health greatly improved as the programme went on because I’ve been able to practice gratitude, think positively, and therefore achieve positive results in my life. I thoroughly enjoyed the programme. Thank you so much!” – Zahra Ryana Hussain
Excited to learn more about the programme AND try out some wellbeing tools for yourself? Get access to the free Building Resilience and Wellbeing Taster Webinar
[1] Seligman, M. E. (2012). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. Atria Paperback.
[2] Janssen, M., Heerkens, Y., Kuijer, W., van der Heijden, B., & Engels, J. (2018). Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on employees’ mental health: A systematic review. PLoS ONE 13(1)
[3] Seligman, M. E., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60(5), 410.
[4] Watkins, P. C. (2000, Aug). Gratitude and depression: How a human strength might mitigate human adversity. Paper presented at the 109th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.
[5] Smith, R. H., Turner, T., Leach, C., Garonzik, R., Urch-Druskat, V., & Weston, C. M. (1996). Envy and schadenfreude. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 158 – 168.
[6] Froh, J. J., Sefick, W. J., & Emmons, R. A. (2008). Counting blessings in early adolescents: An experimental study of gratitude and subjective well-being. Journal of School Psychology, 46, 213 – 233.
[7] Algoe, S. B., Haidt , J. , & Gable , S. L. ( 2008 ). Beyond reciprocity: Gratitude and relationships in every-day life. Emotion, 8, 425 – 429.
[8] Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 377 – 389.
[9] Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9, 111–131.
[10] 38 Participants completed psychometric surveys before starting and after completing the 8 week programme:
