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The COVID-19 pandemic brought many challenges to our daily lives, including our mental health. In response, the Graduate School is committed to promoting mental wellness and providing resources to support research postgraduate (RPg) students. To address the needs and concerns of RPg students regarding mental health enhancement, GS has organised academic-based workshops over past academic years covering various aspects of mental wellness relevant to the study context of students.

In the coming academic year, the Graduate School will continue to strengthen mental wellness support for RPg students through the ‘Future-Ready Series’ initiative. The objective of this initiative is to promote whole-person wellness by fostering a sense of community among RPg students through peer-to-peer support and raising awareness about the importance of pursuing and maintaining mental wellness. The proposed theme for the 2023/24 academic year will be ‘Ask Again’ and ‘知疼著熱’, emphasising the importance of peer support.

The Graduate School will offer a variety of activities for RPg students to bolster their mental wellness, including workshops on balancing academic work and personal life, mindfulness, self-exploration, dealing with negative thoughts, building positive relations, and networking. There will also be sharing sessions on maintaining good supervisor-supervisee relations, understanding emotions, and overcoming academic stress. In addition, there will be art workshops, a dumpling workshop, and movie nights. All of these activities aim to promote a sense of community among RPg students and raise awareness about the importance of mental wellness.

To promote the wellbeing and mental health of RPg students at the departmental level, each department will be encouraged to appoint one or two RPg students as wellness ambassadors. These ambassadors will receive Mental Health First Aid training, and triage/referral manuals will be prepared to offer guidance for supporting their peers.

We encourage all students to take advantage of these resources and to prioritise their own mental wellness, and we aim to increase their awareness of the many resources that are available to help them. Thank you for being a part of our graduate community, and we wish you all the best in your academic and personal pursuits.
 

Professor Cecilia Cheng
Associate Dean (Personal Development)
Professor
Department of Psychology