Thread by @karenraycosta

A thread on #MentalHealth, #ToxicStress, and #TraumaAwareness in #HigherEd...

With recognition that our leaders are also experiencing all of these challenges, are they acknowledging these realities?

What I'm hearing from faculty is no. People are drowning. Faculty, staff, and students are numb, traumatized, scared, and barely holding on by a thread. And they do not feel seen and supported by #highered leaders. There are, of course, exceptions. Those don't make rules.

I think sometimes our leaders feel like talking about these issues is not their job. It's the counseling office's job, right? No. Not right. Conversations about scope of practice can help move this conversation forward, perhaps.

Telling the truth is within your scope of practice. Telling the truth means telling the truth about the hard stuff too. Toxic positivity creates more stress and trauma. Business as usual won't cut it, not even close. We need our leaders to create spaces for the hard stuff.

And I was thinking this morning that maybe people who aren't trained in stress and trauma are oblivious and how sometimes when a person is drowning they look like they're waving.

They aren't waving. Your faculty, students, and staff are drowning. They need more help.

I don't know how else to say this. I spend the majority of my day with students and faculty from all over the country and the world. They are not okay. They need more help. They need you to create spaces to talk about the hard stuff.

Stop sharing resources about teaching online or HyFlex or whatever in the absence of any resources to support people's mental and emotional health. Stop doing that. Please. Prioritize care and well-being.

Empathy is within your #ScopeOfPractice as a leader in #HigherEd. Faculty, students, and staff should not have to seek outside resources to get this support. This should be woven into the fabric of our institutions.