Keeping a sound mind

The UTRGV Counseling Center will host Spring into Wellness Friday, an on-campus retreat event to promote wellness and mental health.

Diana Landeros, case manager at the Counseling Center, said the retreat will take place on the Edinburg campus and has different purposes and goals, such as having a day for students where they can relax and refresh after Spring Break to get back to the routine.

“We’re very lucky to have two guest speakers coming and they are both authors, and they wrote this book based on their lived experience with mental health,” Landeros said. “… They wanted to share with the public to hopefully inspire others, you know, to overcome challenges with mental health.”

She said students can experience outdoor yoga, a nature walk, mindful watercolor painting, a picnic, wellness trivia and prizes.

The speakers Shawn Elliot Russell, author of “Be Still, Little Tree, Be Still,” and Arlene Cantu, a UTRGV alumna with a degree in psychology.

The event will also help students to know about the resources the Counseling Center has on campus.

“We realize that not many students know that there is a counseling center and they can have professional therapy with licensed professional counselors at no cost,” Landeros said.

She said UTRGV students have access to counselors on both campuses and they also have access to TimelyCare, an app where students can have online therapy for free.

Christopher Albert, the director of the UTRGV Counseling Center, had a plan to bring speakers on campus, according to Landeros.

 “We were brainstorming ideas,” the case manager said. “And then, it became bigger and bigger and I thought, ‘Let’s just have a date … and let’s make it a retreat.’”

Landeros said this will be the first time the event takes place and, depending on the outcome, the center will host it on both campuses.

“We want our students to do well,” she said. “If you are not doing well mentally or emotionally, you’re gonna struggle academically, too. And we want to show students that there are easy ways to practice, you know, wellness and self-care.”

Elisa Flores, a psychology and studio arts junior, said she was not aware of the event but thinks it is important to promote wellness for students.

“I plan to go into psychology, so I do believe in getting help on mental health,” Flores said.

–Ethan Maldonado contributed to this story.