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Central Office: Galbraith Hall 190
Hours: Mon-Fri, 8:00am-4:30pm Phone & Crisis: .858-534-3755
Emergencies: 911   

Wellness Peer Educator Program


NEXT YEAR'S INFORMATION SESSION (TO BE A 2018-19 PEER EDUCATOR) WILL BE HELD IN EARLY SPRING:

  • STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFORMATION IN THE SPRING QUARTER!
APPLY TO BE A 2019-20 PEER EDUCATOR:
  • Applications will be available in the Spring Quarter.
  • If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Patrick Savaiano at 858-822-2825.

Wellness Peer Educator Program

2017-18 Wellness Peer Educators
FRONT (L to R): Nhi Lang, Alice Lu, Crystal Yung, Allison Salter, Alisha Patel, Amy Truong, Asmaa Deiranieh

BACK: Dr. Patrick Savaiano, Danielle Castillo, Mojeeb Shir, Tommy Tsai, Sharon Liou, David Song, Mel Huang, Ben Tam

NOT PICTURED: Dr. Erin Bartelma

The Wellness Peer Educator Story

The CAPS Wellness Peer Educator Program was established during the 2004-2005 school year. The goal of the Wellness peer educator program is to educate fellow students about mental health and wellness, reduce stigma and spread awareness of Counseling and Psychological Services on campus. Wellness Peer Educators receive training on mental health and wellness topics, basic counseling skills, assisting students in distress, healthcare ethics and professional standards, and how to construct and implement outreach and workshop presentations. The Wellness Peer Educators host a number of events throughout the year, including:

  • Tabling events to educate students about CAPS services
  • Fall Quarter: "Stress Free Zone"
  • Winter Quarter: National Sleep Awareness Week "Sweet Dreams" Event
  • Spring Quarter: NEW! Tritons Flourish Community Event
  • Peer educator recruitment


The Wellness Peer Educators plan, develop, advertise and deliver psycho-educational workshops and interactive presentations related to mental health and wellness through their 9-part Tritons Flourish Workshop Series. Each quarter three new workshops are available to request through the Wellness Peer Educator Program (see the Tritons Flourish Workshop Series tab for a detailed description of each workshop) which include:

  • Fall Quarter Emphasis: Personal Success Strategies Workshop Offerings
    • 1. Managing Stress at UCSD
    • 2. Academic Success Strategies
    • 3. Building Healthy Relationships: Skills for Enhancing Communication
  • Winter Quarter Emphasis: Mind, Body, Spirit & ❤ Workshop Offerings
    • 4. Love Languages: Tools for Strengthening Loving Relationships.
    • 5. Body BFF
    • 6. Move your Body, Tone your Mood
  • Spring Quarter Emphasis: Tritons Flourish Workshop Offerings
    • 7. Take Charge! Create a Life of Meaning, Purpose, and Well-Being
    • 8. Mindful Self-Compassion
    • 9. #lifegoals: Increasing Happiness and Life Satisfaction

Some of the groups to whom the Wellness Peer Educators have presented include:

  • Course lectures/discussion sections
  • Emerging Leaders Program
  • Healthy Campus Network
  • Wellness Cluster Student Advisory Board
  • Undergraduate Academic Advising Council
  • Campus Community Centers
  • Psi-Chi
  • Resident Advisor Training
  • Student Health Advocates
  • UCSD Residence Halls

TO REQUEST A PROGRAM, CLICK ON THE "REQUEST A PROGRAM" TAB ON THIS PAGE!

Wellness Peer Educator FAQ's

What is peer education?

Peer education involves UCSD students providing education and outreach to other students. We believe that peer-to-peer education is a strong and vital avenue to provide information on topics important and applicable to UCSD students. Peer education provides unique experiences for students to receive training in teaching, presentation, and basic counseling skills. In addition, these students then provide valuable resources and information to the UCSD community through workshop/outreach presentations, group forums, and individual meetings with students.

Many of our past Peer Educators have gone on to pursue graduate school in areas of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, Medicine, Social Work, and even Engineering. There's something for everyone!

What is the Wellness Peer Educator Program?

Co-led by Dr. Erin Kelly Bartelma and Dr. Patrick Savaiano, The Wellness Peer Educator Program offers unique programming and training experiences. This group meets weekly to discuss training, program development, and program planning. In addition, the peer educators meet for an "all-day training" during Week 0 of Fall Quarter in which the peers are provided extensive training in basic counseling skills, assisting students in distress, healthcare ethics and professional standards, and how to construct and implement outreach and workshop presentations.

What is the time commitment to be a Wellness Peer Educator?

Wellness Peer Educators typically devote from 3-6 hours per week throughout the academic year. During the start of the Fall quarter, there is one extensive "all-day training" session that requires approximately 8 total hours.

What types of programs or presentations do Wellness Peer Educators provide?

The Wellness Peer Educator Program provides outreach presentations for a wide variety of issues (related to the program's theme). Listed is a sample of recent programs and trainings provided with the peer educator program:

  • Managing Stress at UCSD
  • National Sleep Awareness Week "Sweet Dreams" Event
  • Biofeedback and Relaxation Training Workshops
  • Academic Success Strategies
  • Building Healthy Relationships
How do I become a peer educator?
THIS YEAR'S INFORMATION SESSION (TO BE A 2018-19 PEER EDUCATOR) IS:
APPLY TO BE A 2018-19 PEER EDUCATOR:
  • The deadline to submit your application has passed. The deadline was 12 NOON on Friday, April 13, 2018.
  • If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Patrick Savaiano at 858-822-2825.

The NEW Tritons Flourish Workshop Series

The Wellness Peer Educators plan, develop, advertise and deliver psycho-educational workshops and interactive presentations related to mental health and wellness through their 9-part Tritons FLOURISH Workshop Series. Each quarter three new workshops are available to request through the Wellness Peer Educator Program (see the Request a Program tab for a detailed description of each workshop) which include

TO REQUEST A PROGRAM, CLICK ON THE "REQUEST A PROGRAM" TAB ON THIS PAGE!

Quarter Program Description
FALL:
Personal Success Strategies		 1. Managing Stress at UCSD What exactly is stress anyway? How does it impact our lives? How do we manage it? Stress can get in the way of functioning at your optimal potential. This workshop will provide the information and tools needed to decrease stress and increase success!.
2. Academic Success Strategies Juggling the rigorous academic demands at UCSD is challenging but learning basic research-based performance techniques can increase your ability to flourish academically! This workshop will teach you academic success strategies such as: time management skills, optimizing study habits, goal setting, and how to create an individualized plan aimed to improve academic performance.
3. Building Healthy Relationships: Skills for Enhancing Communication Humans are relational beings, yet at times it can be difficult to connect with others in a deep and meaningful way. This workshop teaches communication skills - including active listening and assertive communication - to help you build lasting, healthy relationships. These skills can be applied to relationships of all kind. Participants learn methods for improving social confidence while exploring how they can create a sense of community and strengthen their social network.
WINTER:
Mind, Body, Spirit & ❤ 		4. Love Languages: Tools for Strengthening Loving Relationships The description should be changed to: They say, “All you need is Love,” but it may not always be that simple. There is more to a good relationship than simply a feeling of love. This workshop aims to unpack some of the complexities of love in its various forms. You will learn evidence-based, practical skills to build and maintain meaningful relationships as well as strengthen the relationships you already have. This workshop will help you learn about your “love language”, how to best communicate your needs with others, and more!
5. Body BFF Loving yourself and your body isn’t always easy especially with pressure from social media. This workshop will provide you with some of the tools needed so you can aspire to become your body’s bestie! Learn how to engage in self-compassion, increase your self-esteem, and incorporate self-care techniques into your life to keep you feeling good about yourself!
6. Move your Body, Tone your Mood Everyone knows that exercise has a positive effect on a person’s health, body, brain, and even mood. Then why do we still procrastinate when it comes to getting our workout on?! This workshop covers the psychological benefits of exercise and also addresses real world ways you can learn to incorporate exercise into your daily routine without it feeling like a chore!
SPRING:
Tritons Flourish Workshops		 7. Take Charge! Create a Life of Meaning, Purpose, and Well-Being College is a time to explore who you are and what you want out of life. This workshop uses positive psychology to help students cultivate meaning by looking at how resilience, gratitude, discipline and optimism can impact a person’s understanding of themselves and the world. Students will learn how to incorporate positive emotions, engagement, relationship building, achievement, and grit into their daily living to help gain direction so that they can really flourish!
8. Mindful Self-Compassion Sometimes we can be our biggest critic. This workshop teaches ways to turn your inner critic into your biggest fan! Learn about positive self-talk, mindfulness skills, and ways to treat yourself kindly, just like you deserve!
9. #lifegoals: Increasing Happiness and Life Satisfaction Wellness is about more than just getting by, it’s about flourishing! Sometimes happiness can be found in unexpected places. In this workshop, you will learn about the psychology surrounding happiness and concrete steps you can take to find fulfillment and live out loud!

Request a Wellness Peer Educator Program

If you are interested in scheduling a workshop or tabling event from the Wellness Peer Educators, please complete the online Wellness Peer Educator Program Request Form below. For a detailed description of our workshop offerings please click on the Tritons Flourish Workshop Series tab on this page. For general information about our programs, please contact our Program Coordinators, Dr. Bartelma & Dr. Savaiano, at: ucsdwellnesspeereducators@gmail.com.

In addition to offering tabling events and educating students about CAPS services, Wellness Peer Educators also provide workshops. The following is a description of our 9-part interactive Tritons Flourish Workshop Series. For a listing of workshops, please click on the Tritons Flourish Workshop Series tab on this page.

Be a Peer Educator!

If you are interested in becoming a Peer Educator, you can apply online in the upcoming Spring quarter! Each Spring, we offer an Peer Educator information session. During this information session, you can find out more about the Wellness Peer Educator Program, impressions from the peer educators and coordinators, and other useful information.

THIS YEAR'S INFORMATION SESSION (TO BE A 2018-19 PEER EDUCATOR) WILL BE:
APPLY TO BE A 2018-19 PEER EDUCATOR:
  • The deadline to submit your application has passed. The deadline was 12 NOON on Friday, April 13, 2018.
  • If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Patrick Savaiano at 858-822-2825.

If you have questions about becoming a peer educator, please contact us at wpe@ucsd.edu.




  • PHONE / APPOINTMENTS:
    858-534-3755
    FAX: 858-534-2628
  • CENTRAL OFFICE & URGENT CARE:
    Galbraith Hall 190 (Revelle College)
  • HOURS:
    Monday-Friday (excluding holidays)
    Business Hours: 8:00am-4:30pm
    Urgent Care Hours: 8:00am-4:00pm
  • MAILING ADDRESS:
    Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)
    9500 Gilman Drive, 0304
    La Jolla, CA 92093-0304
  • URGENT CARE: 8:00am-4:00pm
  • CRISIS COUNSELING 24-HRS: 858-534-3755
  • EMERGENCIES: Call 911
  • NATIONAL SUICIDE HOTLINE: (800) 273-8255