by Aaron Schantz, MA, LLP, CAPS Staff Counselor Attending professional conferences is one way that CAPS counselors connect with colleagues and stay up-to-date on the practices and research available in the profession of college counseling. This year, Hope College CAPS was helping keep other centers up-to-date. Presenting at ACCA 2023 Dr. Bonnie VanderWal and Aaron …
Author Archives: Aaron Schantz
So, What Exactly is Mindfulness Anyway?
“Mindfulness” or “being mindful” are words that get tossed around a lot these days, but what does it really mean to “practice mindfulness” or to “be mindful”? […] Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, describes mindfulness as “awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally in the service of self-understanding and wisdom.”
How everyone can help save lives this World Suicide Prevention Day
With World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10, the staff in CAPS wanted to remind students of ways you can help prevent suicide on our campus and in your community. This post contains some steps anyone can take to help our campus be safer.
Coronavirus Anxiety Workbook
by Aaron Schantz, MA, LLP, CAPS Staff Counselor Perhaps you have a bit of time over break for yourself? To some of you, that question feels opposite of your plans for break because you will be frantically busy. But maybe the other extreme is true and you may feel relatively confined to home with more …
Mental Health and the Election Season: Part 3, Why Plan?
Take time now to prepare a plan for self-care using the 5 C’s: Cultivate, Connect, Contain, Commune, and Comfort.
Mental Health and the Election Season: Part 2, Why Dialogue?
by Bonnie Vander Wal, Ph.D., CAPS Staff Counselor This post is the second in a series of three planned posts leading up to Election Day, 2020. CAPS staff counselor Dr. Bonnie Vander Wal writes to help the Hope Community navigate the turbulent election season with an eye on maintaining mental health. So this really happened. …
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Mental Health and the Election Season: Part 1, Why Participate?
by Bonnie Vander Wal, Ph.D., CAPS Staff Counselor This post is the first in a series of three planned posts leading up to Election Day, 2020. CAPS staff counselor Bonnie Vander Wal writes to help the Hope Community navigate the turbulent election season with an eye on maintaining mental health. It’s that time again… The …
Continue reading “Mental Health and the Election Season: Part 1, Why Participate?”
Does this sound like you, too?
by Aaron Schantz, MA, LLP, CAPS Staff Counselor In the CAPS office, we have been thinking about an article by Tara Haelle, an infectious disease journalist who, in her professional life survived a 8.0-magnitude earthquake in Peru. She begins her article with a realization that life today is harder for her than surviving that earth-shaking …
Dear Hope community (a letter from CAPS)
Dear Hope community, As we return to campus (both physically and virtually) from the summer recess, we join the community in welcoming students back, and look forward to the ways in which we will serve the mental health needs of our campus. We strive to deliver appropriate and effective services to all of our students, …
Finding peace through expressive writing: An old method for a new challenge!
Journaling is form of writing that is not new, but many people find helpful. Expressive writing is a specific kind of journaling, and this blog post links you to a new, guided COVID-19 resource for coping through writing out your thoughts and feelings.