Outreach and Community Engagement
The mission of Outreach and Community Engagement Services is to connect CAPS to the larger UC community through relationship building and collaboration.
Through Outreach and Community Engagement, we hope to inform students about CAPS services, decrease stigma about mental health, reduce barriers, and reach out to individuals and communities that may otherwise not seek mental health services.
Outreach includes mental health programming; community consultation with students, faculty, and staff; presence at events to help improve the mental wellness of our campus; and raising awareness about mental health and wellbeing.
Attend Workshops
CAPS offers four-part workshop series focused on different topics. They are open to all UC students and you do not need to be a CAPS client to attend. While the sessions build on one another, they are drop-in so you can attend at your convenience. Each series is offered twice per semester.
All workshops are free!
Anxiety and You: Learning How to Live with Anxiety
Facilitator: Pete Mesrin, LPCC-S
When: Tuesdays at 3:30pm-4:30pm
Location: Student Wellness Center, Steger 480 (*Location for 9/30/25 session is TUC 423)
Series 1 Dates: 9/16/25, 9/23/25, 9/30/25*, & 10/7/25
Series 2 Dates: 10/21/25, 10/28/25, 11/4/25, & 11/18/25** (**week off in between sessions for Veteran's Day)
Anxiety and You uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) principles. Experiencing anxiety is very common among college students. It can be overwhelming at times and make us feel out of control. This four-part drop-in series is designed to help you learn about anxiety and its effects on our bodies and minds, work to change our relationships with it, and gain skills to manage it.
Grounded & Growing: Navigating Life Transitions with Confidence
Facilitator: Caity Cavanaugh, LPCC
When: Wednesdays at 4:00pm-5:00pm Location: Langsam Library 462
Series 1 Dates: 9/17/25, 9/24/25, 10/1/25, & 10/8/25
Series 2 Dates: 10/22/25, 10/29/25, 11/5/25, & 11/12/25
Grounded and Growing uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) principles. College life is full of transitions — new beginnings, shifting identities, and tough decisions. This interactive series helps you build mental flexibility, clarify your values, and move forward with purpose — even when life feels overwhelming.
Shifting Your Focus
Facilitator: Dalziel Reliford-Stone, LPCC-S
When: Mondays at 4:00pm-5:00pm Location: C.A.T.S. Lounge, Steger 743
Series 1 Dates: 9/15/25, 9/22/25, 9/29/25, & 10/6/25
Series 2 Dates: 10/20/25, 10/27/25, 11/3/25, & 11/10/25
In Shifting Your Focus, we will work on finding ways to decrease feelings of depression, imposter syndrome, perfectionism, anxiety, and mood shifts and work to develop skills for emotional regulation. We will introduce ways to learn distress tolerance, enhance our interpersonal skills, and incorporate mindfulness techniques.
Meet with Peers
Connecting with peers provides an innovative way to supporting the community by promoting opportunities for student engagement, connection, and reducing barriers to mental health resources. Some of our peer engagement includes peer to peer initiatives including Bearcats Support Network (BSN), the Bearcats Recovery Community, and Sky@UC.
Suicide Prevention
Become a QPR Gatekeeper
In Collaboration with 1n5 and Child Focus, the Division of Student Affairs-Health and Wellness is bringing the opportunity to be trained in the evidence-based suicide prevention training, Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR).
Just as people trained in CPR and the Heimlich Maneuver help save thousands of lives each year, people trained in QPR learn how to understand mental health, recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis, and how to question, persuade, and refer someone to help. Each year thousands of Americans, like you, are saying “Yes” to saving the life of a friend, colleague, sibling, or neighbor. Gatekeepers can be anyone, but include parents, friends, students, neighbors, teachers, ministers, doctors, nurses, office supervisors, squad leaders, foremen, police officers, advisors, caseworkers, firefighters, and many others who are strategically positioned to recognize and refer someone at risk of suicide.
As a QPR-trained Gatekeeper you will learn to:
- Recognize the warning signs of suicide
- Know how to offer hope
- Know how to get help and save a life
If you are in need of crisis support or after hours care, dial 513-556-0648 and follow the prompts to be connected to care.