Mental Health Advising
Services Offered
Mental Health Advising services offer support, strategies, navigation and referrals to help ensure students are never alone with these stressors.
Improve your relationships with others and yourself, find healthy ways to cope with stress, learn how to talk positively to yourself, and what to watch for as you move through your studies with these amazing services – rated at the top of the province.
These are included in your study fees and often are delivered with little or no wait times, so be sure to show up for yourself, check them out and see how you can use these helpful and friendly services!
Contact mywellness@northern.on.ca to get started.
What We Offer
- One-on-one or group support
- Community referrals
- Service navigation
- Training and workshops
- Leadership opportunities
And much more! See below for more information.
Counselling Services for Domestic Students
WECONNECT provides counselling sessions for you and your dependents, by phone, web, live chat, e-mail, text, and through the app.
This service is included in your Student Health Benefits through We Speak Student.
Counselling is available through life coaching, wellness coaching, mindfulness programs, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), legal and financial consulting
WeConnect is available by phone at 1-888-377-0002 and online through your Student Health Benefits account.
WeConnect Counselling ServicesInformation Package (PDF, 668 kb)
Counselling Services for International Students
StudyInsured™ provides all international students at Northern College access to cost-free mental health support through its Stay Healthy at School program.
Features:
- 24/7 access to professionally qualified mental health counsellors
- Immediate crisis intervention 24/7 in more than 100 languages
- Pre-scheduled appointments booked via app, online, or over the phone within 48 hours
- Traditional Student Assistance Program academic services related to life coaching, nutritional counselling, financial literacy, legal services, and more.
StudyInsured Health BenefitsInformation Package (PDF, 75 kb)
Spaces on Campus for your Wellbeing
Explore the North around Northern College campuses. We have green spaces (that turn into white spaces in the winter). We also have reflection spaces for meditation and cultural spaces for traditional practices. Enjoying time outside, or in a quiet space on campus can help recentre you and your focus.
Sleep Pods on Campus
If you find yourself between classes or between school and work and would like to catch up on some rest, please locate a sleep pod on campus. The pod offers a number of features, including a timed nap. The benefits of rest correlate to positive long-term health, improved mood, creativity, and learning! Watch this video to learn more about our sleep pods!
Press Pause
Press Pause is a mental wellness self-help kit designed to help students focus on wellbeing and avoid online spaces’ noise. This evidence-based kit guides students through journaling, reflection, future-planning and positive thinking exercises.
Email us for your kit today! mywellness@northern.on.ca
Online Peer Support Services
TalkCampus is a peer support service providing instant support for your mental health.
Balancing your studies, work, home, family, and life can be overwhelming. TalkCampus is here for you day and night for anything you want to talk about or when you need a friend. Talk anonymously to students from universities and colleges worldwide going through the same hurdles you are.
This free app provides instant support for your mental health at any time of the day or night.
- Talk about the ups and downs of life in a safe and supportive environment that’s just for students like you.
- Share your experiences and support others; it’s amazing how helpful you can be to someone just by being you!
- Open up or post anonymously – it’s totally up to you. However you want to talk, we let you do it just that way.
- Safely share struggles with anxiety, depression, stress, bipolar, self-harm, anorexia or suicidal feelings. Whatever is going on for you right now, we’re here.
You can read the privacy policy and learn more about TalkCampus by connecting with our Mental Health Advisor at mywellness@northern.on.ca
To sign up for TalkCampus, please use your Northern College email which will unlock the app free of charge. You will be asked to verify your email before posting.
Interested in becoming a TalkCampus Volunteer? TalkCampus designed their volunteering opportunities to fit into your busy schedule and to provide a flexible way of getting involved with the community. Visit talkcampus.io/volunteering to learn more.
Accessibility Services
Accessibility Services work with students who may have restrictions resulting from a disability to identify barriers to learning and provide resources to support students’ success.
Indigenous Student Advising
Indigenous Advisors are available to meet with all students, bringing a cultural lens to support you and your opportunities for success throughout your college experience in a welcoming environment.
Academic Success Services
Academic Success Services offers various services to support your academic journey, from tutoring, peer support program, computer bootcamp and other workshops to help you succeed in your studies.
Community & Online Supports
Call or text 988 for a safe place to talk, 24 hours a day.
For more information, visit https://988.ca/
Visit your local hospital to learn about their programs and services related to mental health and wellbeing. If you are experiencing a crisis or emergency situation, please present at your nearest hospital emergency department or call 9-1-1.
The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) – Cochrane Temiskaming Branch provides recovery-focused programs and services for people of all ages and their families. They provide the support and services to people living with and touched by mental illness that are needed on their journey to happy and fulfilling lives while educating and advocating for a caring community where everyone belongs.
Their BounceBack program is a free skill-building program designed to help adults and youth 15+ manage low mood, mild to moderate depression and anxiety, stress or worry.
The Canadian Centre on Substance Use & Addiction (CCSA) is an organization providing national leadership on substance use and advancing solutions to address alcohol- and other drug-related harms. Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health provides people living in Canada with the information they need to make well-informed and responsible decisions about their alcohol consumption.
The Centre for Innovation in Campus Mental Health‘s mission is to help Ontario’s colleges and universities enhance their capacity to support student mental health and well-being. The organization provides information, events, infosheets, toolkits and other resources for students and faculty.
HeadsUpGuys is an online, anonymous resource specifically designed for men, and their families, to prevent the continued erosion of men’s mental health and deaths by suicide.
211 Ontario quickly and confidentially connects people to social services and community programs across the province. Call, text, or chat.
NEDIC provides information, resources, referrals and support to anyone in Canada affected by an eating disorder.
Good2Talk offers free, confidential support to post-secondary students in Ontario 24/7. For many, post-secondary can be an exciting and, at times, stressful or overwhelming experience. Good2Talk can support students through a wide range of issues that may be impacting their mental health and well-being, including depression, anxiety, substance use, academic stress, personal or family relationships, loneliness, identity, financial concerns and other challenges. By connecting with Good2Talk, post-secondary students can receive professional counselling, volunteer crisis support and information and referrals about mental health services and support on and off campus.
Call 1-866-925-5454 or text GOOD2TALKON to 686868.
The Nishnawbe Aski Mental Health Wellness Support Access Program (NAN Hope) provides community-driven, culturally appropriate and timely mental health and addictions support to members of the 49 First Nations communities in the Nishnawbe Aski Nation Territory. This First Nation-led program is in response to the specific mental health needs of community members in northern Ontario, offering a central access point to mental health and addiction support.
Phone or text 1-844-NAN-HOPE (1-844-626-4673) and live chat helpline for the Nishnawbe Aski First Nations communities.
In Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi, SOCH (ਸੋਚ) means “to think” or “a thought.” As community mental health nurses, we truly believe that the way to combat the stigma towards mental health is to change the way our community “thinks” about mental health. Soch offers a number of mental health resources for South Asian students
Black Mental Health Canada (BMHC) is a volunteer, non-profit, community-based organization founded in 2019 to help meet the mental health needs of the diverse Black communities in Canada. They offer programs, workshops and a forum to support the unique experiences of black people in Canada.
ConnexOntario: confidential health services information for people experiencing problems with alcohol and drugs, mental illness and/or gambling, funded by the Government of Ontario. Call 1-866 -531-2600, text CONNEX” to 247247 or use the live chat online.
The Ontario Structured Psychotherapy Program (OSP) is available to anyone 18+ years old with mild to moderate depression, anxiety and anxiety related conditions.
OSP provides access to FREE, short-term, cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) and related services. CBT is a type of psychotherapy that teaches coping skills and techniques to help clients change the way they feel, think and act.
OSP services range from self-directed (with support from a coach or therapist) to weekly, one-on-one or group therapy.
Toll free: 1-833-49-NEOSP (1-833-496-3677) Email: neosp@hsnsudbury.ca
Mental Health Training & Development Opportunities
Our “Living Works Start” course is a 90-minute online certificate program that teaches trainees to recognize when someone is thinking about suicide and connect them to help and support. This powerful four-step model aims to keep someone safe from suicide, and you’ll have a chance to practice it with impactful simulations. Safety resources and support are available throughout the program.
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is the help provided to a person developing a mental health problem, experiencing a mental health crisis, or a worsening of their mental health.
To enrol in this course, please contact Nichole Roy at royn@northern.on.ca.