Learner Life/Wellness

Learner Support

It’s easy to prioritize productivity over wellness. When your well-being is low, and burnout is near, it’s time to talk with someone. Make an appointment with myHub’s Director of Learner Life and Wellness, Amber Rivera, to discuss your personal wellness plan and receive support as you work toward a healthy state of well-being.

Positive Interpersonal Relationships

Colleagues, peers, faculty, and others that you work with as a trainee and beyond are integral to your journey in research. Building and maintaining positive relationships with mentors and peers is important to success. Your own self-awareness and generally being mindful of how you relate to others will help in this process. Talking with someone who can give you space for being reflective will help you learn from the challenges you encounter along the way. myHub’s Learner Life/Wellness can provide support and advice for navigating relationships. Make an appointment to talk about what’s going on.

Learner Wellness

The stress continuum was first developed by the US Marine Corps to provide a snapshot of how marines were managing stress during combat deployments. It has since been adapted for use in a variety of settings to encourage deeper discussions around the impact of stress on well-being and daily functioning. It can be helpful to think about expressing your level of stress as where it falls on a continuum of experiences.

I’m in the green

• Making restful sleep a priority
• Intentional focus on eating habits, exercise, and staying hydrated
• Making time for social connection, hobbies, time in nature
• Emotionally available to self and others
• Able to express gratitude

I’m in the yellow

• Sleep loss, fatigue
• Change in attitude
• Loss of creativity and motivation
• Increased cynicism
• Avoidance
• Short fuse

I’m in the orange

• Consistent sleep disturbances
• Emotional numbness
• Feeling trapped
• Disconnected from relationships
• Sense of suffering

I’m in the red

• Chronic insomnia
• Hopelessness
• Anxiety, panic, and depression symptoms
• Feeling lost or out of control
• Thoughts of self-harm and/or suicide
   

Utilizing the continuum, conversations about stress management can maintain a greater focus on your distinct stress “snapshot.” Working together, we can discuss which green activities you’re engaging in, which yellow experiences are being managed, which orange experiences need attention, and what resources are available when in the red.

myHub Learner Life/Wellness is committed to student and postdoc success by providing services that enrich learning, build and maintain community, and support the social and personal development of graduate students and postdocs.