May 6, 2020

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MILWAUKEE — May is Mental Health Awareness Month and faculty experts at Marquette University are available for tips on personal mental health care, as well as care for others during safer-at-home and social distancing orders.

Good mental health is necessary as people are asked to navigate stressful and isolating times related to the COVID-19 pandemic. A complete list of available mental health experts is available online.

Managing stress

Dr. Stephen Saunders, chair and professor of psychology, has offered his expertise on managing stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. His areas of expertise also include adolescent mental health and psychology, parent/teen issues, help-seeking behavior, and depression among other things. He can be reached at stephen.saunders@marquette.edu.

Keeping faith

Spirituality plays a key role for some people in positive mental health during times of crisis. Rev. Ryan Duns, S.J., is an assistant professor and the assistant chair of theology and has been able to share his insight on how to keep the faith during the trying times presented by the spread of the coronavirus.

Trauma

Dr. Emily Mazzulla is clinical assistant professor of psychology and the Marquette Director of SWIM Collaboration and Innovation. Scaling Wellness in Milwaukee (SWIM) was founded by Marquette President Michael R. Lovell and Amy Lovell, president of REDgen.

• President Lovell and Mazzulla co-authored an op-ed about managing trauma in the time of COVID-19 for Real Clear Health.
• Mazzulla also participated in a Q&A with Marquette Today on caring for trauma while distancing.

Mazzulla can be reached at emily.mazzulla@marquette.edu.

Depression

Isolation and stress can escalate and lead to forms of depression. Dr. Michael Wierzbicki, associate professor of psychology, is an expert on depression and suicide. He can be reached at michael.wierzbicki@marquette.edu.

Marquette Counseling Center

Despite limited students on campus, the Marquette Counseling Center has not been deterred in offering students support from wherever they have been studying. The Counseling Center offers services through phone contact, as well as web and social media resources for students such as managing stress, coping with social distance, and looking after themselves and others. They will be piloting telemental health services for the summer academic sessions.

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Media interested in reaching a faculty expert, these features or any other programs at Marquette University can contact Kevin Conway at kevin.m.conway@marquette.edu or Shelby Williamson at Shelby.williamson@marquette.edu in the Office of Marketing and Communication.

Note: Marquette will exercise best practices in social distancing for all media interviews to protect the health, safety and well-being of our university community and our partners in the media. Interviews will be done remotely via Skype or a similar mutually agreed upon technology; b-roll footage may be captured on a limited basis and in close coordination with the Office of Marketing and Communication.

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About Kevin Conway

Kevin is the associate director for university communication in the Office of University Relations. Contact Kevin at (414) 288-4745 or kevin.m.conway@marquette.edu.