College is a stressful time, and students often report feeling overwhelmed. Many students may experience times of increased anxiety and low mood. Students who suffer from serious symptoms of anxiety and depression are encouraged to seek treatment. Other students who do not have serious symptoms but might be showing early signs of depression may benefit from additional support to reinforce their mental wellness. Thanks to a generous grant to the College from the Huiying Memorial Foundation, CY He '18 Vice President, and in collaboration with the Office of the Dean of Students, a research team from the Wellesley Centers for Women is designing an innovative program to serve these students.
Ministering to the Blue is a pilot study that aims to develop and evaluate a program to promote healthy coping strategies and wellness in Wellesley College students. The research team, with meaningful involvement from Wellesley students, faculty, and staff, is designing and testing an online intervention program specifically for Wellesley College students at risk for depression, based on the latest depression prevention research.
The program, which is nearly complete, is an adaptation of the CATCH-IT (Competent Adulthood Transition with Cognitive-behavioral Humanistic and Interpersonal Training) depression prevention intervention developed over the past 15 years. This new tool will be pilot tested in the spring of 2021 and rolled out to incoming students in the fall of 2021.
Tracy Gladstone, Ph.D., an associate director and senior research scientist with the Wellesley Centers for Women, leads the Ministering to the Blue research team. Dr. Gladstone is the inaugural director of the Robert S. and Grace W. Stone Primary Prevention Initiatives at WCW and has an extensive background in studying, developing, and evaluating depression prevention programs.
To learn more or to receive notifications about this project directly, please email ministeringtotheblue@wellesley[dot]edu.
If you have concerns that you might be depressed, we encourage you to contact the Stone Center Counseling Service.
