• If you are sick, stay home and in bed and rest. Avoid crowded places like dining halls, classrooms, restaurants, and the RAC or other fitness centers to prevent spreading illness to others
• Take fever-reducing medications like acetaminophen (Tylenol), ibuprofen (Advil), or naproxen (Aleve) if you do have a fever (temperature over 100°F). Please check your temperature using a working thermometer. If your fever persists for more than 48 hours in spite of taking these medications, please seek medical care (UHS hours Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m., (410) 455-2542).
  
• Drink lots of fluids.
  
• If you have been diagnosed with the flu and develop shortness of breath or severe fatigue, call your healthcare provider or go to an emergency room.

• Wash your hands frequently and/or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Hand sanitizing stations are located around campus.
  
• Avoid contact with those who are ill, if possible.
  
• Clean high-touch surfaces in your room and/or office with antibacterial cleaner (bleach wipes are very good).
  
• Cough into your sleeve or a tissue, not directly into your hands, and wash your hands immediately.
  
• Avoid touching your face both when you are ill and when healthy. This spreads germs!
• Avoid sharing food, utensils, cups, and water bottles.
• It may still be helpful to get a flu shot. UHS provided more than 700 flu shots this season and while we do not have any more shots, vaccines may be available at local pharmacies or from your primary care doctor.
  

Due to a scheduled departmental retreat The UMBC Counseling Center and University Health Services will close on Thursday January 23, 2020. The Counseling Center and University Health Services will reopen on Friday, January 24, 2020 at 8:30 am.

 In case of an emergency on January 23, 2020 please contact University police at 410-455-5555.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Dr. Bruce Herman, Director, at 410-455-2542

The Counseling Center is dedicated to supporting the health and well-being of UMBC students, and staff are excited to offer new and expanded wellness resources. We hope you will take advantage of these important tools to support your personal development and help you make the most of your UMBC experience.  

New WellTrack Interactive Self-Help Therapy App for Students

The Counseling Center now offers the WellTrack interactive self-help therapy app free to UMBC students. Use the modules to address concerns related to stress, anxiety, depression, and public speaking (this module available only on the WellTrack website). If you want to follow up with a counselor, the Counseling Center staff is here to help. Services are free and confidential for registered UMBC students. To make an appointment, call 410-455-2472 or stop by the offices at the Student Development & Success Center on Center Road (in between Chesapeake Hall and Susquehanna Hall across from Erickson Field).  

Download the WellTrack app and register with your UMBC ID for full access; no identifying information will be shared with counseling staff unless you choose the option to do so. Please note that all of the Counseling Center’s screening resources are for informational and educational purposes only, and are not intended as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment.

Mind Spa Expands, Moves to Albin O. Kuhn Library and Patapsco Hall 

Mind Spa is an important campus resource with self-care tools to help you relax, improve concentration and memory, and overall success as a student. Counseling staff have collaborated with staff from University Health Services’ Office of Health Promotion, Residential Life, and the Albin O. Kuhn Library to make it more accessible to all students. Mind Spa has moved out of the Counseling Center and is now available in two locations: Albin O. Kuhn Library, Room 367, and Patapsco Hall, Room 163. A UMBC ID is required to access either space. 

Mind Spa is a quiet space equipped for the practices of mindfulness, meditation, and relaxation, and includes a massage chair, meditation cushions, hot tea, and other wellness resources. You can also check out light therapy boxes from the library location to use in the Mind Spa space or in your room. 

Practicing mindfulness and meditation can have important physical and mental health benefits such as increased concentration, awareness, and regulation of emotions. Studies show that these practices have positive short- and long-term effects on the brain. You might begin to notice benefits from your experience at Mind Spa immediately or after a few sessions.

“These resources tap into our goal to create a supportive culture of care and wellness for our students,” says Alayna Berkowitz, who recently joined the Counseling Center as assistant director of outreach and mental health promotion. “There are many different ways to engage with therapeutic resources beyond the in-person setting. The WellTrack phone app is great for a generation that is using social media and apps more than previous generations. Not all students present for traditional talk therapy, and both WellTrack and Mind Spa offer students other opportunities – through a phone app and quiet spaces – to take care of themselves.”

Berkowitz adds that the Counseling Center’s goal is to make sure its resources and programming take into account the complexity of UMBC students’ diverse and intersecting identities and needs. 

 Learn more about the Counseling Center’s services and resources.

This Giving Tuesday, will you help support 36 UMBC students who will spend Spring Break 2020 exploring social challenges and potential solutions in Baltimore?

Alternative Spring Break (ASB) participants work with nonprofits, city governments, community organizers, residents, and activists. They develop a new sense of the human-scale impacts and dimensions of abstract, systemic issues: seeing the impacts on the people affected, and understanding a variety of perspectives on the problem. In addition, they develop skills that help them reflect on experiences; share, solicit, and make use of stories; build community; work in partnerships; and analyze approaches to problem-solving to identify what works, and what else is possible.