Paul Quinn's focus on mental health helps college students through trauma, stay on track

Evanston's free Mental Health First Aid training program has equipped 169 residents with skills to recognize and respond to mental health crises. This helps distressed individuals connect to professional resources more efficiently, though challenges remain in ensuring adequate follow-up mental health services are available in the community.

The "Let's Talk" program, originally developed at Cornell University in 2006 to address mental health stigma among students of color, offers free drop-in sessions with licensed clinicians at UConn and more than 100 colleges nationwide. The program removes common barriers to mental health care by requiring no appointment, insurance, or long-term commitment, and intentionally stages services in high-traffic campus areas to reach underserved students.

Northwestern University's Curious Life Certificate is a personal development program that teaches students emotional intelligence, habit formation and other life skills. The program addresses rising mental health challenges by focusing on three channels of self-awareness: physical sensations, emotions, and stories, drawing on evidence-based psychological frameworks and cognitive behavioral therapy principles. Pre- and post-program data show participants see an overall increase in their emotional intelligence after completing the courses.

Connecticut colleges are implementing QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) training to teach students how to recognize suicide warning signs, ask direct questions like "Are you thinking about suicide?" and connect peers to professional help. Since 2022, over 1,000 people have been trained through Connecticut Children's Youth Suicide Prevention Center alone, with hundreds more trained at individual campuses like Southern Connecticut State University.

The Bridge Peer Counseling Center provides 24/7, free, anonymous counseling to students, by students. The student counselors are trained in crisis response and volunteer over 30 hours each week to keep the center running, ensuring mental health support is always accessible on campus.

The Carolina Athletics Mental Health and Performance Psychology Program works with university sport teams in weekly sports psychology meetings, where student athletes can discuss their mental health concerns and learn ways to overcome them. The Program currently has three licensed mental health clinicians on staff and hopes to hire more.

The state-funded Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium provides mental health care and resources to more than 300 school districts, with one goal of preventing mass shootings. Programs like in-school behavioral telehealth appointments make care more accessible to children who are identified as in-need

The rise of natural disasters due to climate change in India has had a psychological impact on many, including children, but psychologists in the state of Kerala are working to address the trauma through targeted training. From better equipping school counselors and providing on-site counselors for students, the communities have reported a decrease in fear in the children.

Many people associate post-traumatic stress disorder as a diagnosis exclusively reserved for military or emergency responders, and this limited definition can lead to misdiagnoses for everyday civilians. Training more therapists in cognitive processing therapy and prolonged exposure therapy, however, expands treatment options for this population.

Outback Mind operates community-based, peer-led men's circles across rural and regional Australia where local men facilitate regular gatherings that teach emotional literacy and create safe spaces for men to express emotions. Last year, up to 2,500 men attended these circles and reported feeling more capable of processing emotions they’d previously ignore.