New academic year, (mostly) new crew

Welcome to EAW 2.0!  Our goal for the coming year is to continue to provide the same services you have come to know and appreciate (e.g., counseling, crisis management, workshops and trainings, and organizational consultation), while implementing some changes and expanding some of our offerings.

Fall 2019

Clinical themes

• We are organizing our workshops and other activities around monthly themes:
  • September:        Kindness and compassion
  • October:              Harvest health
  • November:         Gratitude
  • December:         Thriving during the holidays

LOUIE registration for EAW workshops

• Beginning this month, NAU Employees will be able to register for EAW workshops on LOUIE!  Look for EAW courses to be announced in the next week or two.

Zoom meetings

• Beginning in September, we will try to Zoom at least one workshop and one fitness class per month, in addition to weekly guided mindful practices, in order to reach individuals on extended campuses and/or people who have difficulties attending our activities in person.

Climb to Conquer Cancer

• On August 17, 2019, over 100 NAU Employees will join President Cheng in the Climb to Conquer Cancer.  So far, our NAU team has raised over $1200!  This is a great event, supports the American Cancer Society, and kicks off our 2019-20 season of the President’s HealthyU Walks.  An EAW staff member will be tailgating at the beginning of the walk with sunscreen and snacks…stop by and say “Hi” before you leave!

Fruits/Veggies Rx

• Results from the 2018 Wellness Survey indicated that NAU employees believe they should be eating more fruits and veggies.  In an effort to help, EAW is partnering with Campus Health Services, Student Health Promotion, and Campus Dining to implement a Fruits and Veggies Prescription program.  If a provider (e.g., physician, nurse, or counselor) “prescribes” increasing fruit and veggie intake to an employee, that employee can pick up a voucher for ONE FREE BAG OF FRUITS AND VEGGIES PER WEEK for six weeks, to be picked up on the pedway at the Open-Air Market during September and October!  We would also like to highlight that NAU employees can use dining dollars to purchase produce at the Open-Air Market!

UCAN Rx

• Similarly, EAW is partnering with the Health Sciences Department and Campus Health to provide a FREE HEALTH COACHING SESSION with a University Coaching for Activity and Nutrition Health Coach, which can be prescribed by a provider or can be scheduled by the employee themselves!  Additional sessions can be purchased for a very low fee.  Don’t forget you may record HealthyU points for this event!

Guided mindfulness practice

• During lunch on Tuesdays, EAW staff will provide guided mindfulness practice; check our calendar for locations or access (for up to 100 employees) via Zoom.

Blogging

•  Each month we will kick off our themed focus with a Blog that provides information and resources for self-care and upcoming workshops and activities.

Employees Ask Wellness Questions (EAWQ)

• Each month, we will choose a question from employees to address in our blog.  We encourage everyone to submit any questions you might have about wellness or general mental health to ask-eaw@nau.edu.  Please note we cannot respond immediately or individual to submitted questions, but hope to choose questions that are of interest to our populations.

Additional information

• As many of you may know, we have experienced many staff changes at EAW over the past year.  Our esteemed founder and leader for 27 years, Betsy Kerr, has joined Stan Clark and Connie Cordain on the list of recent EAW retirees, and Suzanne Botello is set to retire mid-August (please join us for her retirement party on Thursday, August 8 from 2:30-4:30pm at the HRM courtyard).  Additionally, Jake Werley left NAU for private practice in Flagstaff, as will Kristen Flugstad at the end of September.  We will miss each of these psychologists and counselors, and we would like to express gratitude for all of the work they have put into the Office of EAW, NAU, and our community of Flagstaff over the years through tireless counseling, workshops and trainings, consultation, and helping to manage crises; we wish them the very best in their new endeavors.
• Finally, we would like to welcome our new counselors, Heather Coate and Mike Bouck, and our new psychologist, Ann Collier.  We are extremely lucky to have these seasoned therapists and trainers on our team, and we look forward to opportunities for NAU employees to meet them!

 

Thank you for taking the time to read through our Blog…we hope you will check back in the future!

Best,

Heather Nash

EAW Director/Psychologist