- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock /news-archive/tag/mental-health/ ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Tue, 14 Dec 2021 14:29:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Assadi Earns Doctorate at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock /news-archive/2021/12/14/assadi-commencement/ Tue, 14 Dec 2021 14:29:46 +0000 /news/?p=80560 ...]]> This month, Assadi, assistant director of counseling services at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, will graduate with a Doctor of Education in Higher Education with a concentration in student affairs. “It really feels amazing to be graduating,” Assadi said. “It’s been a long process to see this day. I’ve been working on my dissertation for six years. People are calling me Dr. Assadi, and it’s still a shock to me.” Assadi joined ��Vlog��ý Little Rock in 2010 as a therapist and career counselor, and began working on his Ph.D. in 2013. “I always knew I wanted to get a doctorate. It’s something I knew from a very young age,” Assadi said. “My father was a big proponent of higher education. He was an immigrant. Due to not having a firm grasp of the English language, he was often passed over on promotions. He instilled in me a strong work ethic and a love of education.” Over the years, Assadi said he learned important skills that helped him excel in his career. “I just learned so much in that program,” Assadi said. “It’s one of the biggest reasons I got promoted to begin with because I learned so many things along the way. One example is fundraising. During Dr. Barrett’s class, Bob Denman came in and talked about fundraising. After that, we ended up raising $60,000 for mental health programs and scholarships on campus.” In February 2020, Assadi was promoted to assistant director of Counseling Services just one month before the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools down. “With classes being remote, you would think it would be less busy, but it was the opposite for Counseling Services,” Assadi said. “We were the busiest we have ever been in the past year. I think the pandemic shone a light on how important mental health is. People were dealing with isolation, hopelessness, depression, financial problems, health issues, and more. It was a scary time for people, and it made the stigma of going and getting counseling less severe.” Meanwhile, Assadi completed his dissertation exploring masculinity, mental health, and attitudes towards willingness to seek help among male college students. “This is a common phenomenon across campus colleges,” Assadi said. “There is a lot of stigma when it comes to mental health in general. Younger people and men have even more negative attitudes when it comes to seeking help for mental health. That is very bad considering the high rates of suicide among college students. Early detection and treatment is crucial to treating mental health disorders. Stigma delays the process a lot and results in horrible consequences.” His advice for college students is to take care of their mental health. Assadi said students can get tips on how to keep healthy minds and bodies by checking out the Wellness and Inclusion Instagram page. “I really encourage students to take care of their mental health and engage in self-care,” Assadi said. “College students shouldn’t be scared to ask for help. It doesn’t matter how big or small your problem is, there is someone on campus who can help you.”]]> ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Conducting First Statewide Collegiate Substance Use Assessment /news-archive/2021/09/24/substance-use-assessment/ Fri, 24 Sep 2021 14:10:20 +0000 /news/?p=79953 ...]]> The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Survey Research Center is partnering with ��Vlog��ý Little Rock MidSOUTH and the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services to conduct the inaugural 2021 Arkansas Collegiate Substance Use Assessment. “The Arkansas Collegiate Substance Use Assessment will help the government, institutions, and universities across Arkansas plan, implement, and evaluate activities that will help prevent and treat substance abuse across the state,” said Dr. Derek Slagle, director of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Survey Research Center. “College is usually a time when students are first exposed to alcohol and drugs. College students are considered a high-risk population for first-time users of illicit substances.” The survey collects self-reported information on alcohol and drug use, mental health status, and perceived attitudes and beliefs among college students in Arkansas. “For many students in college, it is their first time leaving home to be on their own,” said Dr. Chuks Odor, a prevention manager at MidSOUTH. “Parents, friends, and well-wishers are excited for them in this new chapter of their lives. With this excitement comes a lot of challenges such as adjusting to new surroundings, making new friends, studying to maintain good GPAs to graduate, and the pressure to meet various expectations, etc. Unfortunately, some students get introduced to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs as a way to fit into certain groups, to cope with stress, through peer pressure, or in some cases are forced into usage. However, it is important to note that most students do not use drugs.” About 25 community colleges, colleges, and universities in the state are participating in the assessment by distributing the 31-question online survey to their students through Oct. 15. The assessment also includes questions related to COVID-19 and virtual learning to assess the pandemic’s effect on alcohol and drug use among college students. The data will be used to improve safety on college campuses. “While this is the first college-level assessment of this kind for Arkansas, the assessment is standard in other states across the country,” Slagle said. “MidSOUTH has been distributing the high school version of this assessment since 2002, and they have been a great partner. Two professors, Dr. Amar Kanekar and Dr. Euchay Ngozi Horsman, also helped with the creation of the collegiate survey.” The results of the assessment, which will be available in January 2022, will be used for the state’s Substance Abuse Block Grant. The Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services, along with other states, receives federal dollars on a routine basis to ensure services are available to promote alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse prevention and treatment programs and recovery support systems for the State of Arkansas. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students can take the survey .]]> The BridgeWay starts scholarship/internship program at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock /news-archive/2018/11/01/the-bridgeway-scholarship/ Thu, 01 Nov 2018 13:05:25 +0000 /news/?p=72508 ...]]> , a mental health and substance abuse facility in North Little Rock, is partnering with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to provide students in the Department of Applied Communication with a unique opportunity to receive a scholarship and gain professional experience at the same time. The BridgeWay will donate $2,500 a year to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock to sponsor a scholarship and internship program for applied communication students in the College of Social Sciences and Communication. Beginning in January 2019, one student will be selected per year to receive a $2,500 scholarship and an internship at The Bridgeway. Bruce Trimble, director of business development for The BridgeWay and a passionate advocate for mental health in Arkansas, graduated from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock in 2006 with a Master of Arts in applied communication. “When I graduated, I wanted to do anything to help with the applied communication program because I got so much out of it,” Trimble said. “This is another way to honor the program and give students an opportunity for a great scholarship and internship experience.” The students selected for the scholarship will assist Trimble in developing communication strategies and messages targeted at combatting the stigma surrounding mental health and expanding The BridgeWay’s services. “One of the things I’ve learned over the years is the stigma that surrounds mental health can largely be combatted by communication,” Trimble said. “The interns will be assisting with messaging around mental health and helping me identify targets and barriers to expand our services within the state of Arkansas. This internship is a way to give back and expose this area of communication to young leaders.” The BridgeWay provides inpatient mental health services, outpatient care, and counseling to Arkansans. Now celebrating its 35th anniversary, the hospital is the largest freestanding psychiatric facility in the state and serves nearly 5,000 people a year. In 2014, Trimble experienced a paradigm shift when he realized that Arkansas was a leading state for suicide. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson appointed Trimble to the Arkansas Suicide Prevention Council. This involved building connections to hospitals and treatment centers, challenging the stigma associated with mental health, and educating the populace about resources in the state, particularly for people who are struggling with depression or thoughts of suicide. Trimble has also been instrumental in establishing a call center in Arkansas for the Suicide Prevention Hotline, which opened in December 2017. “Statistically, Arkansas is eleventh in the nation for suicides, and that is definitely something we could reduce if more people got help,” Trimble said. “Every day is a wakeup call. Each number is a person, and we need to reverse that trend.” Trimble received the 2018 Alumni Making a Difference Award, which recognizes ��Vlog��ý Little Rock alumni for being instrumental in their community to foster the co-creation of better social worlds through positive communication. Receiving the award was a highlight for Trimble, who was happy to share the experience with his proud father, 90-year-old Robert Trimble. He also serves on the Advisory Board for the Department of Applied Communication which helps connect community businesses, nonprofits, and alumni with the university. Trimble is one of the featured speakers in the 2018-19 Leadership Lecture Series. On Nov. 1, he will deliver his lecture, “Language Matters: Our Role in Destigmatizing Mental Health Issues.” In the upper right photo, Bruce Trimble (left) celebrates with his father, Robert Trimble, after receiving the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock 2018 Alumni Making a Difference Award.]]>