13th Annual Conference – Pre-Conference Workshop
Tuesday, March 28, 2017, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
The Westin Seattle
Seattle,WA
Mental Health Issues in Education Abroad
Natalie Mello (The Forum on Education Abroad); Charlie Morse (Worcester Polytechnic Institute)
The workshop is designed for those responsible for developing, managing, assessing and improving education abroad programs. Participants are expected to have familiarity with either hosting or sending students on education abroad programs. Professionals who may benefit from attending include study abroad administrators, study abroad advisors, faculty who lead programs, risk managers, and colleagues who run campus internship programs and volunteer offices. The goal of this workshop is to assist participants in developing experience in handling mental health issues that may arise with students on an education abroad experience. This workshop will review trends in college mental health with specific focus on high risk behaviors, identify certain mental health reactions to stress that can be problematic, discuss and explore philosophical, legal, and practical concerns as well as models for pre-departure screening, lay out appropriate roles to play when concerned about a student’s mental health distress, and provide strategies for managing mental health concerns when they occur. All of this will take place through an interactive workshop that engages participants in discussion of case studies and application of the Standards of Good Practice. This workshop is co-led by a mental health professional in higher education familiar with education abroad.
