As the students, faculty and staff of Gannon University return from a restful Thanksgiving break, Good for U looks to continue promoting a culture of wellness by reminding the campus community to embrace its emotional wellness as the semester concludes.
Emotional wellness is the ability to understand ourselves, express our emotions in an appropriate manner and adopt positive strategies to adapt to life’s challenges.
Maintaining optimism, taking personal responsibility, managing stress and adjusting to change are all associated with emotional wellness.
The pathway to embracing emotional well-being includes increasing awareness of thoughts and feelings, using a positive attitude, seeking support and expressing emotions in a suitable manner, learning time management skills, setting priorities, accepting mistakes and learning from them, as well as maintaining a balanced life.
Good for U is promoting a variety of health and counseling services, student-led organizations and activities available to the campus community that will help set you on the path to better emotional wellness. The Health and Counseling Center (HCC) provides various services to the campus as they aim to fortify emotional wellness at Gannon.
Faculty and staff are eligible for confidential counseling services through the university’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) free of charge. EAP services are provided by off-campus mental health providers.
In addition, psychologists in the HCC offer free individual and group counseling services to currently enrolled students. Relaxation rooms located in the HCC also provide another way to embrace your emotional wellness through private reflection times and instructional sessions on progressive muscle relaxation, breathing techniques and guided visualization.
On-campus massages from licensed massage therapists are also available at the HCC for reasonable fees. Contact Dana Amann, secretary of the Health and Counseling Center, at [email protected] for more information.
Gannon also offers other opportunities to embrace your emotional wellness through student-led organizations and facilities including the Recreation and Wellness Center (RWC).
Active Minds, a student-led organization dedicated to utilizing the student voice to raise awareness and improve mental health on campus, sponsors various campus-wide events which contribute to the club’s mission of raising awareness of mental illness, educating the community on these types of illnesses and decreasing the stigma associated with mental health disorders. Contact Jodi Giacomelli, associate director of HCC and club adviser of Active Minds, at [email protected] for more information on upcoming programs.
John Homer Miller, renowned journalist for ABC News, said that emotional well-being can affect the overall perception of an individual’s life.
“Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life,” Miller said. “Not so much by what happens to you, as by the way your mind looks at what happens.”
Good for U encourages you to embrace your emotional wellness by getting involved in the different services offered throughout campus, and reminds you to never be afraid to ask for help.

DAVID RUSSO
[email protected]