FACULTY & STAFF: Resources to support student mental health

As staff and faculty of the University of Toronto, you play an important role in helping students find the supports they need. Often the first point of contact, you can direct students to the resources, services and supports that will help them thrive at the University of Toronto. In addition to the U of T mental health resources included below, there are also community supports that students can access for low-barrier and youth-focused mental health support.

Resources to support students

Digital Supports

Available 24/7

Short for navigator, Navi is a chat-based virtual assistant that provides information on mental health resources, as well other topics, including admissions, financial aid, getting involved, careers, convocation and more.

uoft.me/navi

Available 24/7

U of T Telus Health Student Support provides students with real-time and/or appointment-based confidential, 24-hour support for any academic, health, or general life concern at no cost. They can call or chat with a counsellor directly from their phone whenever, wherever they are.

Ongoing support is available over the phone in 146 languages. Immediate support is available over the phone in 35 languages and over chat in simplified Chinese, English, French and Spanish.

studentsupport.telushealth.com

Available 24/7

Empower Me is a confidential mental health and wellness service available 24/7, 365 days a year, available to undergraduate and graduate students. Through this service, students can access mental health professionals, as well as doctors and nurses for medical care.

Students with benefits from UTSU or UTGSU can access it through studentcare.ca

Available 24/7

The Student Mental Health resource helps students find mental health resources and supports they need.

mentalhealth.utoronto.ca

Health & Wellness: One-on-One Supports

Available Tuesday – Friday, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. (during the academic year)

PSS offers all U of T St. George students access to one-on-one, drop-in, non-judgmental support. The program is staffed by U of T St. George students who undergo around 50 hours of training before offering support to fellow students. Through this program, students can talk about concerns like navigating academic and personal life, relationship issues, conflicts, and coping with stress. Peer supporters are also trained to help students navigate different resources on- and off-campus.

Students can access this service by visiting one of their locations or joining its Zoom room during its drop-in hours. To view their schedule and locations, or learn more about PSS, please visit:

uoft.me/peer-support

Available Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Students can make a same-day appointment to meet with a professional counsellor, where they can address a specific concern, learn about resources and identify next steps. They can also book subsequent appointments to build on previous sessions or address something new.

Same-day counselling can also be an access point to other services at Health & Wellness, such as brief counselling, navigation advising or referrals to campus and community resources.

Counselling Support for BIPOC-Identifying Students

If students self-identify as Black, Indigenous or a Person of Colour (BIPOC), they can request to meet with a counsellor who is dedicated to meeting their needs. These counsellors offer all the supports of a same-day counselling appointment, and can also provide support for healing from stress related to discrimination ranging from microaggressions to overt racist behaviours and acts.

Students can make an appointment for counselling services by calling 416-978-8030 ext. 5

uoft.me/samedaycounselling

Available Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

If students are unsure what resources, supports or services may be right for them, they can ask for a referral from a counsellor at Health & Wellness for an appointment with a Wellness Navigation Advisor. They will meet with them, understand their needs and help connect them to on- and off-campus supports.

Students can make an appointment to obtain a referral by calling 416-978-8030 ext. 5

Health & Wellness: Group Support

Various times throughout term

Health & Wellness offers a range of free workshops throughout the year to provide students with opportunities to develop coping skills and wellness practices so they can take care of their physical and mental health, including Breathe Well and Sleep Well, Protect Your Body While Learning At Home, and our Coping Skills series covering healthy behaviours, emotion regulation, balanced living and balanced thinking.

Students can sign up for upcoming workshops on Folio.

uoft.me/hwworkshops

Various times throughout term

Health & Wellness offers a range of therapy groups each semester where students can connect with other students while learning new skills and coping strategies. They can discover how to manage negative emotions and thoughts, while learning from clinicians and the experiences of other students.

Students can make a same-day counselling appointment to learn more and discuss whether group therapy is right for them.

Students can call 416-978-8030 ext. 5

Resources to help staff and faculty support students

Health & Wellness Overviews

If you would like more information about the Health & Wellness Centre’s services and programs, you can request a Health & Wellness Overview. Available as a 15- or 25-minute presentation, this session can be delivered online and/or in-person, and covers how the Health & Wellness Centre works, the services it offers, health education opportunities for students, and more!

You can request a presentation.

There are other trainings available both on and off-campus.

General Mental Health Trainings

These trainings teach you how to recognize the signs that someone is experiencing a mental health challenge, engage with them and effectively connect them with help and support. These are all beginner-friendly trainings and suitable for staff and faculty at U of T.

Identify, Assist, Refer (IAR) is a 30-minute asynchronous mental health training that teaches you how to recognize student distress, begin supportive conversations, and make effective referrals. Upon completing the training, you will gain access to campus-specific resources to help you help students experiencing mental health challenges. Complete the training anytime at iar.utoronto.ca.

Time commitment: 30 minutes or less
Format: Online, self-paced learning module
Availability: Can be completed at any time
Delivered by: Health & Wellness

Learn about Identify, Assist, Refer

Once you’ve completed IAR online, you can deepen your knowledge in Identify, Assist, Refer+ (IAR+), a 2-hour companion workshop that builds your skills through case studies, boundary activities and role-play scenarios. IAR+ is provided by request to groups of 12 or more participants who have completed the IAR online training.

Prerequisite: Identify, Assist, Refer Online Module
Time commitment: 2 hours
Format: Virtual or in-person workshop
Availability: Delivered upon request to a group of 12 or more participants (6 weeks notice required)
Delivered by: Health & Wellness

Learn about Identify, Assist, Refer+

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is the support provided to a person who may be experiencing a decline in their mental well-being or a mental health crisis. In this course, certified by the Mental Health Commission of Canada, you will learn how to recognize signs that a person may be experiencing a decline in their mental well-being or a mental health crisis and have conversations to encourage them to reach out to supports.

Time commitment: One day(8 hours) and a 2-hour self-directed online module
Format: In person (full-day training) and online (2-hour self-directed module)
Availability: Sessions will be posted on Folio, however availability is limited
Delivered by: GuardMe (external facilitator to U of T)

Learn about Mental Health First Aid

Suicide Prevention and Intervention

These trainings teach you how to recognize the signs that someone is thinking about suicide, engage them in a supportive conversation and help keep them safe. We offer two trainings that were developed by LivingWorks, an evidence-based suicide prevention skills training organization: safeTALK and ASIST. Although LivingWorks safeTALK and ASIST are separate programs, they are designed to complement each other. These are both beginner-friendly trainings and suitable for staff and faculty at U of T.

Developed by LivingWorks, safeTALK is a 4-hour, in-person workshop where participants will learn how to recognize and engage with someone thinking about suicide, overcome attitudes that act as barriers to help, talk openly about suicide and connect with intervention resources for further support.

The Health & Wellness Centre offers safeTALK for staff and faculty throughout the year, but if you have a group of 20-30 staff who would like to take this training, reach out to us at health.promotion@utoronto.ca and we can arrange a session by request as well.

Time commitment: 4 hours
Format: In person
Availability: Sessions posted regularly on Folio, or available by request
Delivered by: Health & Wellness

Learn about safeTALK

LivingWorks Applied Skills in Suicide Intervention Training (ASIST) is a two-day in-person workshop where participants learn how to recognize when someone may be thinking about suicide, and how to provide skilled intervention and develop a safety plan with the person to connect them to further support. This workshop is designed to increase your willingness, confidence, and capacity to provide suicide first aid.

Time commitment: Two consecutive days (8 hours each day)
Format: In person
Availability: Sessions will be posted on Folio, however availability is limited
Delivered by: GuardMe (external facilitator to U of T)

Learn about LivingWorks ASIST

Trainings from U of T equity offices

The Institutional Equity Office and Indigenous Initiatives teams provide opportunities for learning and capacity-building on inclusive Indigenous competencies, anti-racism and EDI principles, and tools and strategies to advance and strengthen the efforts for institutional change.

Find upcoming trainings on the EDI Education Calendar.

Beyond formal trainings, the Institutional Equity Office also provides other opportunities and resources for learning and capacity-building on anti-racism and EDI principles, tools, and strategies to advance and strengthen the efforts for institutional change.

EDI in a Global Context is one initiative which recognizes that as people navigate their work and learning environments during times of global strife and crisis, they may require very different types of programs, services, supports, and resources. To support the community and to sustain the principles of inclusion and belonging, the Institutional Equity Office (IEO) brings together available resources from across U of T.

Consultative supports

Telus Health Student Support is a 24/7 mental health resource for students, but it can also help you support students experiencing mental health challenges. You can connect with a counsellor to seek support with a range of student situations. This could include supporting students in distress, approaching difficult conversations with students or navigating communication issues, addressing student behaviours, or many other situations. 

Call anytime from anywhere in the world: 1-844-451-9700

The Student Crisis Response, Student Progress & Support Team (SCRAP) responds to staff and faculty referrals for a range of complex student situations. It is important to note that the Student Crisis Response, Student Progress & Support Team is a support to staff and faculty. Students cannot access it independently for support.

The team is comprised of two groups: Crisis Coordinators and Student Progress & Support Coordinators. They respond to faculty and staff referrals when students have complex concerns that exceed the scope of traditional campus supports. Crisis Coordinators respond to staff and faculty referrals for students who are:

  • Experiencing an active mental health crisis 
  • Endorsing suicidal ideation/homicidal ideation 
  • Displaying agitation or aggressive behavior 
  • Displaying severe anxiety, psychosis, or mania 
  • Endorsing desire to self-harm 
  • Displaying strange or bizarre behavior 
  • Displaying visible indicators of distress 
  • Unwilling or unable to engage with other services and/or healthcare supports, and Faculty and staff have ongoing and/or worsening concerns about the student’s safety and well-being 

Student Progress & Support Coordinators respond to staff and faculty referrals for students who are: 

  • Facing challenges maintaining satisfactory academic standing/progress, and may be at risk of program termination 
  • Experiencing multifaceted challenges that are impacting their academics 
  • Facing issues or displaying behavior that may impact the wider campus community 
  • Engaged with multiple University offices, but their issues are not being resolved, or expressing concern related to how their issues are being addressed at the University 
  • Voicing that their needs are being unmet and there are no appropriate University pathways to refer them to 
  • Transitioning to or from a leave of absence from studies 
  • Not communicating with their Department or other University Offices that they were previously engaged with and faculty/staff are becoming increasingly concerned due to the student’s lack of communication and lack of involvement in studies. 
How to access

Faculty and staff wishing to consult the team regarding a complex or concerning student situation may contact the Intake Coordinator at 416-946-7111 or scrap.intake@utoronto.ca during university operating hours. 

Please have the student’s name, student number and contact information if available.

Collaborate with us

Health & Wellness can help you share information about our services with your students. We are eager and enthusiastic collaborators with faculties, colleges, departments and other partners on the St. George campus.

Here are some examples of what we offer campus partners, but you can also reach out to us directly at health.promotion@utoronto.ca.

Print Resources

We have a range of print resources available to the university community to let students on the St. George Campus know what medical, mental health and wellbeing services and programs we have available to them.

Request Health & Wellness print resources.

Digital Slides

Do you want to insert a slide about Health & Wellness into your presentation or display it before a lecture? We have slides about our services, including specific mental health and medical services, ready to go.

Email health.promotion@utoronto.ca to request Health & Wellness slides and insert them into your slide decks.

Content Creation

Do you want to include information about mental health services and supports in your course syllabus or course website? We can work with you to develop content that meets your needs and those of your students to ensure they understand the options available to them.

Email health.promotion@utoronto.ca to request content creation.

Tabling Requests

Are you holding an event and want Health & Wellness staff to talk to students? We regularly attend tabling events throughout the year, engaging with thousands of U of T students. You can invite us to your next event, and we’ll bring resources, Health & Wellness swag and engaging conversations!

Request the Health & Wellness team’s participation at your event.