Campus Outreach

Emotional wellbeing is not confined to our offices. The University Counseling Center fulfills its mission to help students realize their personal and academic potential by getting out into the campus community as well. We have three main avenues: Outreach Requests, the Peer Educator program, and the Cougars Care workshop series.

Outreach Requests

The UCC would love to partner with your department to provide education, training, and opportunities for discussion around mental health issues. Review the types of services we provide below. To request an outreach presentation for your club, class, office, etc., please complete our Outreach Request Form. If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected]. We look forward to partnering with you!

Campus Event Partnerships

The UCC often receives requests to participate in programming created by our campus community. If you would like us to sit on a panel, support a wellness fair, or otherwise support an event you are planning, please let us know.

Presentations

If you would like to have the UCC present on a specific topic for your group ,we would be happy to partner with you. Possible topics include: relationship health, communication skills, stress management, time management, self-care, and more. Our presentations are typically in-person but can also be offered virtually and vary in format and length depending on your needs and the topic requested. Please let us know what topics you are interested in so we can partner together to meet your needs.

Mental Health Training/Gatekeeping

An important way in which we serve the campus community is by training our community members to respond to students in distress using 4Rs: Recognize, Respond, Refer, and Report. Many of you are on the front lines and engaging with students, often before they reach our office. Having the tools to know how to have difficult conversations, offer support and care, and ways to care for yourself in the process can be incredibly helpful as you navigate student needs. Contact us to request a 4Rs training.

Consultation

Sometimes you might not know what you need, but you know you would like some support from the UCC. In this case we can start out by sitting down to collaborate together on what type of outreach might help your group meet its goals. Please contact us if you are interested in brainstorming together.

Peer Educator Program

Mission

More than 90 percent of APU students report being overwhelmed in the past 12 months, and more than 50 percent report feeling hopeless at times. Many people suffer alone and do not want to reach out for help. The Peer Educator Program aims to address this problem by raising awareness, reducing stigma, and equipping the APU community with wellness resources.

Internship Position

In this on-campus volunteer internship, Peer Educators receive intensive training and ongoing supervision on mental health and wellness topics from Counseling Center staff. This helps students learn skills and develop professionally, especially for those considering graduate school in helping or health promotion fields.

Peer Educators then get to use these skills to collaborate with different groups across campus to deliver educational presentations on mental health and wellness topics. For example, Peer Educators get to work on projects such as National Suicide Prevention Day, National Depression Screening Day, the Cougars Care Workshop Series, and much more.

Additionally, Peer Educators have the opportunity to generate physical and social media campaigns around the APU campus to promote mental health and wellness in the campus community. For example, Peer Educators get to develop content for the Counseling Center Instagram account, design signage for around campus, and brainstorm creative ideas to promote increased wellness.

This internship meets the field experience requirement for the Department of Psychology and qualifies as a business internship for the School of Business and Management. It is open to all students who wish to apply.

Learning Objectives

Peer Educators:

1. Understand the mental health challenges facing college students, including problems related to stigma.
2. Learn how to identify and apply for the right graduate school program or psychology-related job that fits their career goals.
3. Develop the leadership and communication skills to succeed in large presentations and small-group projects.

Requirements

Peer Educators commit to:

• A full academic year of service (100 hours per semester for two semesters)
• Fall semester 2-day intensive orientation (August, dates TBD)
• Weekly group supervision and office hours (Fridays, 1-4 p.m.)
• Facilitating educational presentations to the campus community on a flexible schedule
• Compliance with the Student Leadership Covenant and commitment to professionalism

How to Apply

Applications open annually in January for the following academic year. If you are interested in being contacted when applications open for the 2025-26 academic year please give us your email address on the following form.

Peer Educator Interest List

Call (626) 815-2109 or email [email protected] for more information.

Cougars Care Workshop Series

This series provides mental health and well-being training for students to use to help themselves and others. This series is open to all students and provides information on various mental health topics. Any student who completes at least four of our Cougars Care workshops receives an official Certificate of Completion. Learn more about the Cougars Care workshop series.