SUNY Plattsburgh Wellness Week Dedicated to Positivity, Health and Self-Help

Wellness Week returns to SUNY Plattsburgh Feb. 10-15, with events, guest speakers, and informational tabling everyday, with most of the programs being held in and around the Angell College Center.

The week “is intended to share information and experiences about the eight dimensions of wellness with faculty, staff and students at SUNY Plattsburgh,” said Allison Swick-Duttine, interim director, Center for Student Involvement. The eight dimensions of wellness are:

• Social
• Intellectual
• Occupational
• Emotional
• Environmental
• Spiritual
• Physical
• Financial

Swick-Duttine said that Wellness Week is offered at the beginning of spring semester in part “because we know that this time of year in the North Country can be challenging with the seemingly endless winter, gray skies and freezing temperatures. It is an effort to provide knowledge to our SUNY Plattsburgh community about ways to take care of their whole selves.”

Monday’s opening sessions included “Neurobiology of Trauma,” a program facilitated by Sarah Cohen from Planned Parenthood that is designed to help us understand why people react to trauma in certain ways.

“Trauma is not an event,” said Kim Irland, director of Title IX on campus, which co-sponsored the session with Wellness and Health Promotions. “It is a response to an experience that can surface years later. If we can understand it, we can take steps to reclaim the wellness strategies that are going to help us.”

Monday also included a chance to meet University Police’s K9 unit, and a self-defense session with David Boise of Fred Villari Studio, who shared walking, car and home safety tips.

Tabling topics throughout the week include information from the university fitness center, Cardinal Cupboard, Planned Parenthood, Career Development Center, Loving Every Shade of You as well as make-and-take projects and goods, including anti-stress kits, mandala and art therapy, smart snacking and make your own calming jar.

Irland said that she’d be tabling each day with information on the #LoveBetter Campaign, which is inspired by the One Love Foundation, a national non-profit organization with the goal of ending relationship abuse by empowering young people with the tools and resources they need to see the signs of healthy and unhealthy relationships and bring life-saving prevention education to their communities.

“Healthy behaviors are not limited to dating,” Irland said. “Healthy behaviors should be practiced in relationships.”

On Thursday, Feb. 13 from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Warren Ballrooms, New York City-based writer, performer, body empowerment advocate and educator Caroline Rothstein will lead a two-hour workshop on body image positivity, life skills on consent for personal/interpersonal/communally, and healthy boundaries. She follows that with a one-hour poetry session, performing her related work for the first 40 minutes followed by her emceeing for students who may want to perform their poetry related to the theme of the night.

Other programming includes:

Feb. 11

• “How to Break the Ice: Getting Involved for Introverts,” 4-5 p.m. Whiteface Hall Lounge. Center for Student Involvement staff lead discussion on opportunities on campus and what introverts can do to overcome fears, meet new friends, develop leadership skills and serve the community

Feb. 12

• “Ask a Counselor, Ask a Nurse,” 11 a.m.-noon, Burghy’s Den, Angell College Center, featuring an open Q&A session for questions about mental and physical health in a non-judgement zone with staff from the Student Health and Counseling Center

Feb. 13

• “Achieving Financial Wellness,” 10 a.m.-noon, virtual workshop for faculty and staff with Corebridge Financial. Registration required. Contact Alysia Miller at [email protected]
• Wellness Fair, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. ACC lobby, first and second floors, featuring a variety of tables, activities and give-aways
• Teaching Kitchen, Noon-1 p.m. Clinton Dining Hall, with Chef Laura and campus dietitian Sarah Yandow discussing Omega-3 foods

Feb. 14

• Fireside Fridays, 9-11 a.m., Flynt Commons, with the Center for Student Involvement and Theta Gamma Fraternity, featuring hot cocoa and conversation
• Coffee Bar with UP, 1 p.m. ACC lobby
• Healthy Masculinity Dialogue Series, 4:30 p.m., The HUB, ACC, with Title IX and EOP offices

The week culminates with Winter Fest Saturday, Feb. 15, 1-4 p.m. near Hawkins Pond, featuring a pond plunge to help collect food for the Cardinal Cupboard campus food pantry, plus free waffles, hot chocolate, fire pit and music. Sign-up required. Follow the link https://cglink.me/2us/r383918

For a full schedule, visit https://campusgroups.plattsburgh.edu/events. For more information, contact the Center for Student Involvement at 518-564-4825 or email [email protected].

— By Associate Director of Communications Gerianne Downs