Student Support Groups

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Health and Wellness

Student Support Groups

Support groups offer a safe, confidential space to learn, share and connect with other students.

Contribute to the conversation based on your own successes and struggles. Our support groups meet weekly, every second week or monthly. They’re facilitated by mental health and wellness counsellors, student support team members, or psychologists.

Participating in a support group will allow you to:

Develop a sense of community
Boost your resiliency
Build interpersonal relationships
Support others and be supported in return

Our support groups are offered on a drop-in basis. You can attend one session or many, based on your needs.

Current Support Groups

This group is for international students looking for help with stress management and connection with fellow international students in a supportive space. You can discuss any challenge you face. It doesn’t have to be related to your international status.

Members from the International Office and the counselling team lead the sessions.

Facilitators of French Support Group: Bernadette Ingungu and Eric Awounou

Facilitators of English Support Group: Adriana Oatu

Meeting Schedule

This group meets every two weeks on Teams.

Meeting schedule for the International Students Support Group
Language	Date and time	Link
French	January 27, 2023, 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (EST)	Teams Link
English	February 10, 2023, 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (EST)	Teams Link
French	February 17, 2022, 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (EST)	Teams Link
English	March 10, 2023, 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (EST)	Teams Link
French	March 17, 2023, 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (EST)	Teams Link

If you have questions, send us an email.

This support group provides a safe space for Black-identifying students to find strength and companionship and express their unfiltered feelings among peers. It focuses on building community and sharing techniques that foster healing. The group is facilitated by two psychotherapists of colour.

Facilitators: Bernadette Ingungu and Kali Musa

Meeting schedule

All groups are bilingual and in-person in the Student Health and Wellness Centre - Minto Sports Complex, 801 King Edward Avenue, Room N203 (2nd floor), Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5.

Meeting schedule for Black Students Support Group
Date	Time
February 2, 2023	3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
March 2, 2023	3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
April 6, 2023	3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

If you have questions, send us an email.

This support group provides a safe space for BIPOC-identifying students to find strength and companionship and express their unfiltered feelings among peers. It focuses on building community and sharing techniques that foster healing. The group is facilitated by three psychotherapists of colour.

Facilitators: Asma Nsiri and Rand Al-Houssan.

Meeting Schedule

All groups are bilingual and in-person in the Student Health and Wellness Centre - Minto Sports Complex, 801 King Edward Avenue, Room N203 (2nd floor), Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5.

Meeting schedule for BIPOC support group
Date	Time
February 7, 2023	3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
February 21, 2023	3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
March 7, 2023	3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
March 21, 2023	3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
April 4, 2023	3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

If you have questions, send us an email.

This group is for graduate students looking for help with stress management and connection with fellow graduate students in a supportive space. The graduate student support group is offered by two uOttawa staff who specifically work in supporting graduate students. The group is a way for graduate students from any faculty to connect with each other in a safe space and offer support to each other.

Facilitators: Olivia Warnock and Kiran Servansing

Meeting Schedule

This group meets every two weeks in-person in the CRX building, room C441. It's a drop-in support group. No registration is required.

Meeting schedule for Graduate Students Support Group

Language	Date and time
English	January 25, 2023, 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (EST)
French	February 1, 2023, 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (EST)
English	February 8, 2023, 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (EST)
French	February 15, 2023, 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (EST)
English	February 22, 2023, 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (EST)
French	March 1, 2023, 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (EST)
English	March 8, 2023, 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (EST)
French	March 15, 2023, 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (EST)