DMAX Clubs: Creating Conversations that Matter

© 2014 DMAX Foundation. All Rights Reserved

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What Students Say About College Life

©2015 DMAX Foundation. All Rights Reserved 2

•  One of the hardest times in my life

•  Emotional and critical time

•  Pressure

•  Being away from family, from my “homies”

•  You have to start all over

•  Everyone is struggling, trying to be a superstar, trying to keep up

•  The pressure can really cave in on you

Source: DMAX Foundation student interviews (7 students on 6 college campuses)

What Students Say about Stigma


•  There is a huge stigma about talking about how I am doing, let alone about mental health and illness

•  Everyone has to put on a show

•  I have always kept it inside, afraid of what other will think

•  It’s our job to break down that stigma, to start talking about how we are doing

•  You are not supposed to complain

•  Other kids don’t understand that we want to be there for them, not ostracize them

Source: DMAX Foundation student interviews (7 students on 6 college campuses)

The Need for Additional Resources


•  Mental health problems on campus are increasing: –  86% report an increase in number of students on psychiatric meds –  96% report an increase in students with severe psychological problems

•  Mental health resources are stretched:

–  Ratio of counselors to student clients is 1:2081 –  73% of counseling departments limit the number of counseling sessions or

promote their services as “short term”

•  Problems often go unrecognized: –  Of the 125 completed suicides reported during 2013, 86% had not previously

sought counseling center assistance

Source: 2014 ACA National Survey of College Counseling Centers

DMAX Club A New Resource for

College Counseling Centers

A DMAX Club Can Help


•  Break down barriers of isolation and stigma

•  Create a supportive network to share pressures and concerns

•  Enable students to help each other

•  Teach students how to recognize signs of emotional emergencies in themselves and others

•  Stretch Counseling Center Resources

–  DMAX Club student leaders provide additional eyes on students and communicate with Counseling Center liaison when necessary

What is a DMAX Club?


•  Embody the idea that Emotional and Mental Wellness is for everyone

•  Create an intimate environment where students can talk about how

they are doing, how their friends are doing, and how they can help each other

•  Are for all students, because we all fall along the mental health

continuum at different places at different times in our lives

DMAX Clubs


•  Students meet approximately twice each month to: –  Discuss mental health related topics

•  Coping with stress, leading a healthy life, upsets with friends or romantic partners, confusion around choosing a major or career direction, friends in trouble…

–  Participate in meaningful related activities •  Stress level evaluation, stress reduction games, ice breakers, exploring myths and

realities of mental illness, TED Talks…

–  Have fun •  A pancake breakfast, a frisbee game, or other fun activity •  Being together with other similarly intentioned students enables them to feel

connected and have Conversations that Matter

•  Each club hosts one mental health related event per academic year for the broader student environment

What Happens in a DMAX Club

How is a DMAX Club Unique


•  Compared to other Mental Health Clubs –  Other clubs provide education and advocacy related to mental health

and stigma (e.g. Active Minds and NAMI) –  DMAX Clubs complement other mental health clubs –  DMAX Clubs provide an intimate atmosphere that focuses on Friends

Helping Friends and Conversations that Matter

•  Compared to peer-group Clubs on Campus

–  DMAX Clubs are for all students –  There are no labels…only conversations

Role of a DMAX Student Leader


•  Student leader is a HOST of the DMAX Clubs, setting up and providing the environment for students to have Conversations that Matter

•  Student leader is NOT

–  A support group leader –  A paraprofessional –  A counselor

•  Student leaders help other group members realize that this is an environment for Friends helping Friends

DMAX Foundation Leadership Development Program

Both the DMAX Clubs and the Leadership Development Program will help student leaders develop strong skills and new attitudes

toward mental health and mental illness. They will bring these to their post-college careers and

communities.

A Program for DMAX Student Leaders to:

•  Build the skills critical for starting and growing a club, organization or business

–  Presentation –  Effective communication –  Relationship building

•  Develop their abilities to be strong group leaders and hosts –  Active listening –  Coaching –  Meeting facilitation

•  Explore and experiment with behaviors that will further their success in the post-college, real world

13 ©2015 DMAX Foundation. All Rights Reserved

Role of the College Counseling Center

Role of the Counseling Center


•  Train student leaders similar to training of Resident Assistants: –  How to talk –  How to listen –  How to handle emergencies –  Define line between Conversations that Matter and Therapy – to enable

students to curtail conversations that entail therapy and make referrals

•  Maintain an ongoing liaison relationship and line of communication with DMAX Club student leaders regarding emergencies, referrals and other issues

Benefits to the University Community

DMAX Club Benefits Your University

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•  Supplements the mental health resources at your university, something that parents will appreciate

•  Extends your focused caring about students’ mental health

•  Both extends the outreach of the Counseling Center and provides an alternative, less seemingly intimidating outlet to allow students to explore subjects of interest

•  Allows students to talk and listen without implied labels •  Fosters camaraderie

•  Puts more eyes on students •  Aids in prevention -- a reported 86%* of campus suicides occur

with no prior visit to a Counseling Center

* 2014 ACA National Survey of College Counseling Centers

©2015 DMAX Foundation. All Rights Reserved

For more information visit DMAXFoundation.org

or contact

April Matt, Director of Outreach

[email protected]

Education

DMAX Clubs: Creating Conversations that Matter