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Student Mental Health & Suicide Prevention

Our Commitment to Care

Temple University takes a holistic approach to promoting a campus culture of mental, physical and social well-being for all students, faculty and staff.

The path to positive health and well-being is unique to each individual and the Division of Health and Well-being is here to support your journey. We are flexible, inclusive and responsive to the needs of our community and provide students, faculty and staff with emergency resources, medical care, mental health support and health advocacy services.

Please review the following information to view the resources available to you in times of need.

Recognizing Distress

As part of orientation, undergraduate first-year and transfer students are required to complete online programming that includes resources to support well-being. Program content and resources remain accessible to students throughout their time at Temple. Undergraduate students learn about campus resources and supporting a peer during their day-long visit to campus the summer before they begin as students.

You can find out more information about this required program at https://wellness.temple.edu/online-programs

The Wellness Resource Center (WRC) also offers the Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR): Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training at various points throughout the year for Temple University faculty and staff interested in learning more about how to support students who may be struggling with suicidal thoughts.

QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) is a 90-minute evidence-based suicide prevention gatekeeper training designed to provide participants with knowledge about suicide and confidence in basic skills to help someone in crisis. During this training, participants will learn about suicide statistics, differentiate myths from facts about suicide, and practice the core skills—Question, Persuade, and Refer. Information about campus resources and how to access them will be given.

In addition to the trainings above, we strongly encourage all members of our campus community to utilize this information provided below to increase their preparedness and confidence in talking about mental health and suicide prevention.

Signs that indicate you should reach out or share that a student is struggling:

  • Sudden change in academic performance
  • Not going to class
  • Failing grades
  • Sleeping too much or too little
  • Excessive fatigue or excess energy
  • Disheveled appearance or noticeable decline in personal hygiene
  • Sudden and/or extreme mood changes or disproportionate emotional responses
  • Frequent crying, overwhelming anxiety or agitation
  • Isolating from friends and family
  • Dramatic weight loss or gain and/or preoccupation with food, weight, or body image 
  • Confused thoughts, disorganized speech, or bizarre behavior indicating loss of contact with reality
  • Disruptive, aggressive, or threatening behavior
  • Alcohol or other drug-related consequences such as vomiting or blacking out
  • Cuts or burns on their body

Signs that indicate someone might be considering suicide:

  • Talking about suicide: in person, through text, or on social media
  • Asking about or actively seeking access to ways to kill themselves (e.g. weapons, pills, etc.)
  • Expressions of hopelessness about the future or being unable to change or improve
  • Expressions of being a burden to friends, family, the college
  • Difficulty connecting with others or isolating from friends and family
  • Expressions of overwhelming guilt or shame 
  • Withdrawal or detaching from responsibilities and routine
  • Physical signs that they have cut or injured themselves
  • Giving away personal possessions
  • Talking about “if/when I’m gone….”
Crisis Resources

Emergency Situations
In life-threatening emergencies, such as when a student is in imminent danger of harming themselves or someone else, call the Temple University Police Department at 215-204-1234 or 911.

In non-life-threatening situations, call Tuttleman Counseling Services at 215-204-7276 and ask to speak with an on-call counselor. After 5pm or on weekends, or when the University is closed, press 1 when prompted to by the voicemail to be connected with a counselor on our after-hours support and crisis line.

On Campus

Off Campus

Campus Resources
  • Tuttleman Counseling Services provides free, confidential, culturally sensitive mental health services that support the psychological health of the diverse community of Temple students. These services can include individual, group, relationship, and crisis counseling, psychiatric evaluation and medication management, as well as drop-in consultations and off-campus referrals. Afterhours and on weekends, or when Tuttleman Counseling Services is physically closed, support is always available by calling 215-204-7276 and pressing 1 when you hear the voicemail prompt.

 

  • WellTrack Boost
    Welltrack Boost is a free, confidential, anonymous, and secure resource that is available to all Temple students, faculty and staff.  Welltrack Boost is a self-guided and interactive online tool to manage your mental well-being and is designed to help you understand and address your feelings of stress, anxiety, or depression.
  • Learn more about Welltrack | Tuttleman Counseling Services (temple.edu)

 

  • Togetherall
    Togetherall is a free, peer-to-peer mental health community that empowers students to anonymously seek and provide support. This online resource is moderated by mental health professionals and offers a safe space to connect with others experiencing similar feelings 24/7, 365 days a year. Togetherall also offers journaling, goal-setting and self-assessment tools, in addition to a wide range of self-guided courses to help support your mental health and well-being.
  • Learn more about Togetherall | Tuttleman Counseling Services (temple.edu)
Communication With Our Campus Community

The Wellness Resource Center (WRC) is Temple University’s health promotion office who strive to support members of the campus community in exploring wellness and creating a life that aligns with their values.

The Wellness Resource Center offers intentional learning opportunities to promote exploration and meaningful connection. 

The Wellness Resource Center team approaches health promotion and violence prevention from a holistic and public health lens to ensure individuals, groups, and the entire campus community feel resilient and empowered.

We know that the transition to college can be difficult and that students bring their entire selves to campus. The WRC’s approach to promoting mental health and well-being includes programs, trainings, and events that cover associated topics such as suicide prevention, mental health awareness and stigma reduction, and teaching positive mental health concepts. The goal of the WRC is to cultivate holistic programming to enable all students to flourish.

The WRC offers insights into suicide prevention and available resources: https://wellness.temple.edu/sites/wellness/files/WRC%20Suicide%20Prevention%20Card%202021.pdf

To learn more about programs offered by the Wellness Resource Center or to request a program, please go to https://wellness.temple.edu/request-peer-program

Postvention Response

Should a campus crisis event occur, including a death by suicide of a member of the Temple University community, the Dean of Students Office will work in conjunction with various campus departments to offer available resources to support students, and the entire campus community, in the aftermath of the crisis and will share relevant and appropriate information to the extent possible.

Postvention Resources for Faculty and Staff
For Help Supporting Students:

Referral to Counseling Services

Students can be directed to the Tuttleman Counseling Services (TCS) webpage to access counseling resources and complete the registration forms to begin services:   https://temple-counseling.titaniumhwc.com

Urgent Crisis Support

During our regular business hours (Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm), students can walk into TCS.  A counselor is available at TCS who can meet with students for urgent consultations and support.

For crisis support when TCS is closed, students may call our office phone number at 215-204-7276 and press “1” to be connected to our after-hours support and crisis line.

Additional crisis resources may be found here: https://counseling.temple.edu/crisis-support

Death Notification to a Group

Some administrators and instructors ask a TCS counselor to provide a death notification to a class or other group, while other administrators and instructors prefer not to involve counselors in doing the death notification and prefer to do it themselves. At other times the notification is made through email from the chair to an entire department. Decisions surrounding the best course of action usually take into consideration the size and tenor of the class or group and how well the students know each other. If TCS counselors are requested to assist with the notification in a class or group, information will be shared about what is known about the cause of death, understanding the grief process, ways to cope, and how to access counseling services. This intervention typically takes 10-15 minutes to complete. If the notification involves the death of a faculty member, it would be important that a dean and the new professor are on hand to instruct on next steps for the class after the notification has been completed.

Although these situations are always difficult for everyone involved, the hope is that you can receive the assistance that is most useful to you and your department. Please know that TCS is here to support you and your students.

Please contact Dr. Andrew Lee, Senior Director of Tuttleman Counseling Services at 215.204.7276 or at andrew.j.lee@temple.edu if you would like to discuss these options in more depth.

To Support Ongoing Student Mental Well-being

Adding resources to Canvas modules or sites can de-stigmatize mental health services and communicate to students your support. Including the registration link to TCS’s services, as well as others, may remind students during periods of heightened emotion, stress, and / or grief responses that they are not alone.

For Help Supporting Yourself:

There are some faculty, staff, and students who may want to discuss their thoughts and feelings in private with a counselor.  If you need support during this time, please take advantage of the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), through TELUS Health, available to all Temple University faculty, staff and families. The EAP platform can be accessed https://www.telus.com/en/health

In addition to resources on coping with loss, TELUS Health provides free confidential counseling, consultations and referrals.

Calm Health offers mental health tools including a clinical program on Grief Support: A Guide to Coping After Loss.  Calm Health is available at no cost for all full time faculty and staff. https://app.calmhealth.com/?access_code=temple&rdo=true .     

For additional resources please visit https://tuportal6.temple.edu/group/wellbeing/mental-health and https://wellness.temple.edu/staff-faculty

Temple’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching (CAT) has many resources for faculty.  https://teaching.temple.edu/

Temple’s Psychological Services Center is part of the Department of Psychology at Temple University.  They can provide individual therapy for Temple faculty and staff.  Appointments can be scheduled by contacting them at psc@temple.edu, or 215-204-7100. For additional information please visit https://sites.temple.edu/psc/

For any questions regarding the EAP, other other support that may be available, please contact Benefits Department at 215-926-2270 or benefits@temple.edu.

Supporting staff and faculty well-being is part of the Division of Health & Well-being's mission and vision for the campus community. The Wellness Resource Center provides ongoing and on-demand trainings on suicide prevention, supporting student well-being, and addressing burnout. Learn more or request a session when your department feels ready, please contact .