It’s not always easy to make mental health a priority, but Long Beach State offers a variety of services that can assist with personal life, academic and career challenges.
Some on-campus resources that are available are the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), Project Ocean and the Campus Assessment, Response and Evaluation Team (CARES).
CAPS is a counseling service offered to students who are struggling with life transitions, sexuality, stress, anxiety, grief, depression and more. Students can request one-on-one or group counseling when facing certain challenges or obstacles–as well as career development counseling.
This service also provides crisis intervention and psychological workshops that go over specific topics or problems, and offer ways to cope. Students can visit the CAPS office located in Brotman Hall room 226 to learn more.
Project Ocean, is another peer run educational program associated with CAPS students and faculty members can utilize through the On-Campus Emergency Assistance Program. Their goal is to educate students and staff about suicide awareness and prevention, and also destigmatize the negative outlooks on mental health and illnesses.
They offer peer-to-peer programs, workshops, trainings and events that discuss mental health issues and promote better mental health outcomes. Some events include open drop-in consultations, support groups and suicide prevention training.
The CARES Team, however, offers early intervention and crisis de-escalation for students who display certain behaviors or have disclosed personal challenges towards their well-being. Once a student has connected with the CARES Team, they can the student’s concerns and refer them to the appropriate resources.
Students can refer their peers through the “Refer a student to Cares Team” link on the program’s student affairs page.
Also, as a non-official campus resource, students can join CSULB’s Music Meditation Club that meets every Thursday at 5 p.m. in the Multi-Cultural Center FO3-003.
The club offers guided group and musical mantra meditation during their weekly meetings as well as breath work and meditation classes every Sunday over Zoom. They also hold off-campus events like their upcoming Fall Park Social, where they will meet, meditate, and socialize over a vegan meal.
“I think people have this stigma or idea that meditation is hard or you have to be good at focusing already in order to meditate,” Nick Perez president of the Music Meditation Club said. “But that’s like saying you have to be really strong before you start going to the gym.”