As college campuses continue to see rising rates of stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout among students, the 2023 Depression on College Campuses Conference will explore the benefits and drawbacks of the current hybrid landscape on student well-being. The conference aims to examine how changes in the way students learn and interact can impact connectedness, belonging, and mental health, and how the digital space has influenced treatment delivery while providing new opportunities for innovative prevention programming.

Through expert presentations, panel discussions, workshops, and more, the DoCC helps disseminate new research findings, model programs, and innovative strategies to improve college mental health. The annual conference aims to address important issues on campus, shape service delivery, promote the use of resources to improve college mental health, and, in the process, enhance both educational and mental health objectives.

Full registration with is now open. More info to come about Mantra-related events.

Annual event dedicated to progressing mental health work on campus.

Depression on College Campuses Conference

Hear from your colleagues from across the country and higher education experts about the strategies private, nonprofit colleges and universities are employing to support their students and communities.
You will also receive in-depth analysis of the policy and regulatory challenges and opportunities the sector is facing from Washington, DC insiders, Capitol Hill staff, NAICU and other higher education experts. 

Daniel R. Porterfield, Ph.D., President and CEO, The Aspen Institute, will provide his unique perspective on the role of higher education leaders in strengthening institutions, students and communities.

Lee M. Miringoff, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Political Science and Director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, and one of the nation’s leading political pollsters, will discuss the midterm elections, the issues that most moved the electorate, and how the makeup of the House and Senate might affect legislative priorities.

Hon. Rashad Hussain, J.D., Ambassador At-Large, Office of International Religious Freedom, U.S. Department of State, will discuss the Biden Administration's efforts to monitor religious freedom abuses, persecution, and discrimination worldwide.

NAICU-member presidents will discuss the challenges and opportunities of creating inclusive campus communities.

Join Mantra in Washington, DC, for NAICU's 2023 Annual Meeting & Advocacy Day, a premier event for presidents and other senior higher education leaders discussing the most pressing policy issues affecting private, nonprofit higher education.

National Association of Independent Colleges and University Annual Meeting

The NASPA Strategies Conferences provide student affairs practitioners with the knowledge and skills to effectively address collegiate alcohol and drug abuse prevention, mental health, sexual violence prevention and response, and well-being through a variety of comprehensive and integrative approaches.

The NASPA Strategies Conference provides student affairs practitioners with the knowledge and skills to effectively address collegiate alcohol and drug abuse prevention, mental health, sexual violence prevention and response, and well-being through a variety of comprehensive and integrative approaches.

In order to best serve student-athletes and increase access to mental health care, faculty, staff, and administrators must come together to implement campus-wide solutions. In this webinar, we cover the ways in which counseling centers and athletics departments can collaborate more effectively, how to build more natural referral pathways, and how to engage in more meaningful conversations around student-athlete mental health.

Considerations for building effective partnerships between athletic programs and counseling centers

The unique needs of college athletes as well as the barriers they face in accessing care

Challenges faced by the campus counseling center to meet the needs of all students

Existing models of care that best support college athletes

Best practices in building referral pathways

We know student-athletes are in need of more comprehensive support and greater access to mental health resources and services, but this is only made possible when we equip campus leaders with the right tools, resources, and programs to be able to identify mental health needs, respond appropriately, and connect student-athletes to the right type of care at the right time.

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Ari Miller, M.A., LPC, Assistant Director, Student-Athlete Mental Health & Performance, Johns Hopkins University

Ari Miller joined the Johns Hopkins staff in August 2021 as a licensed mental health therapist at the Counseling Center and the Assistant Director, Student-Athlete Mental Health and Performance within Athletics. Miller is the first person to fill the newly-created position; he works directly with all 24 Blue Jay teams and more than 600 varsity athletes. Since 2017, Miller has served as the Assistant Director of Athletics for Sport Psychology and Counseling at Vermont; he previously had spent two years working with the Catamount men’s basketball team as a sport/performance psychology consultant. In the second of those years, Vermont posted a perfect regular season record in the America East and won the conference tournament before falling to Purdue in the NCAA Tournament.

Jennifer M. Whitney, Ph.D., LPC, Counseling Center Director, UNC Greensboro

Dr. Jennifer M. Whitney joined UNC Greensboro in July 2007. She is originally from Ohio and was previously working at the college counseling center at The Ohio State University. She comes with a background in adolescent and adult mental health in a number of diverse settings. Jennifer has a strong personal and professional interest in diversity and multiculturalism, GLBT-QQI concerns, and women’s issues. She currently facilitates an Eating Disorders and Body Image Group for women and is a member of the Eating Disorders Treatment Team.

Timothy Silvestri, Ph.D., Director of Counseling Services, Muhlenberg College

Dr. Timothy Silvestri holds a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Lehigh University and completed his psychology residency at the University of Pennsylvania. Tim is a highly competitive athlete who works with college athletes as well as top amateurs, elites, and professionals. His primary approach is to apply neurophysiological principles to practical applications to improve performance, increase resilience, and create healthy, emotionally centered, and joyful athletes.

In this webinar, we cover the ways in which counseling centers and athletics departments can collaborate more effectively and how to engage in more meaningful conversations around student-athlete mental health.

Supporting Student-Athletes: Care Collaboration Across the Campus

College counseling centers are gearing up for another busy academic year in which demand for services will undoubtedly increase. Directors are eager to hire more providers and as they consider expanding their team to include telehealth providers, they are challenged with assessing the quality of a telehealth provider group. In order to prioritize clinical outcomes, mental health care should be grounded in sound clinical judgment and use evidence-based practices.

How do you know if the provider is qualified to work with college students? How can you assess their clinical expertise and training? What questions should you ask to properly vet a telehealth provider group?

In this webinar, we address:

Considerations for building telehealth quality control within a third party system

Evaluating the expertise of clinical mental health providers in a telehealth setting

Reasons to diversify your service offerings and provider group

Karen Singleton, Ph.D. Associate Medical Director and Chief of Student Mental Health and Counseling at MIT

Nora Feldpausch, MD, Medical Director at Mantra Health

Alecia Sundsmo, PsyD, Executive Director of Therapy at Mantra Health

As college counseling centers consider expanding their team to include telehealth providers, they are challenged with assessing the quality of a telehealth provider group. What questions should you ask to properly vet a telehealth provider group?

Expanding Care with Telehealth: How to Assess Provider Quality

The nature of sport is competitive and pressure-filled. For coaches and athletes alike the stakes are high, the expectations even higher. In both team and solo sports, the coach-athlete relationship plays an essential role in enhancing athletes’ performance and protecting their health and well-being. The problem is that coaches aren’t always equipped with the knowledge, skills, or resources needed to properly care for their athletes’ mental health. How do we change this?

In this webinar, we discuss the dynamics of the coach-athlete relationship, why it’s so impactful on college athletes, and what it takes to improve the culture so student-athletes feel protected, reassured, and supported, no matter what barriers they face.

How to change traditional mindsets to meet the needs of Gen Z

What tools, resources, and training needs to be provided to coaches

How to identify signs of stress, anxiety, and depression

We know student-athletes are in need of more comprehensive support and greater access to mental health resources and services, but this is only made possible when we equip athletic leaders with the right tools, resources, and programs to be able to identify mental health needs, respond appropriately, and connect student-athletes to the right type of care at the right time.

Stephen Hebard, Chief Innovation Officer at Prevention Strategies

Dr. Hebard earned his Ph.D. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at the University of North Carolina Greensboro in 2015 and worked as an assistant professor of Counselor Education at The University of Alabama at Birmingham before joining the Prevention Strategies team. He is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) whose clinical background in substance abuse and mental health intervention brings a unique perspective to prevention research. Dr. Hebard has provided Motivational Interviewing training and consultation for professionals in the fields of general medicine, oncology, psychiatry, nursing, pharmacy, education, and school, mental health, and addictions counseling.

Deborah Wardlaw, Director of Athletics at Columbia College

Debbie earned a Bachelor of Arts in Physical Education from Columbia College and a Master of Science in Sport Management from Southern New Hampshire University. Inducted into the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association, South Carolina Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame, she was most recently into the Columbia College Athletics’ Hall of Fame in April 2019. Debbie was a dual-sport athlete in basketball and volleyball, while at Columbia College, earning All-American honors in both sports.  She served on the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association Board of Directors for 4A and coached girls’ basketball for 24 years, earning 7 state championships and several coach of the year honors. She has a career basketball coaching record of 482-117 and earned South Carolina Track and Filed state 4-AAAA runner-up as a track coach. She was honored with the “Key to the City” in Columbia, SC by Mayor Steve Benjamin and is recipient of the Wil Lou Gray Educators Award from Columbia College, SC. 

Joe Valerio, Former NFL Athlete; Senior Director and Regional Client Service Operations Officer at Willis Towers Watson

As an integral part of one of the NFL's most successful teams in the 90s, Joe Valerio learned that it takes more than talent to play at the professional level and contribute to a winning team. When he retired from the Kansas City Chiefs and joined the "real world", Joe drew from his football experiences to improve performance and team dynamics in his "new" work environment. Today, Joe shares these valuable lessons with diverse audiences through his speaking and consulting program. Joe's program, "Lessons from the Gridiron," provides "playbook" strategies for creating effective team players, building great teams, and beating the competition. Joe's keynote speeches, team building seminars, and in-depth workplace consulting focus on his unique approach to self and team assessment, and address important topics like dealing with adversity, setting goals, focusing on priorities, creating chemistry, defining roles, and finding leadership.

Moderator: Carla D. Chugani, PhD, LPC, VP Clinical Content & Affairs at Mantra Health

Carla Chugani, Ph.D., LPC is currently the Vice President of Clinical Content and Affairs at Mantra Health. Prior to this role, she served as an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Health. Her current research is focused on suicide prevention with emerging adults in the higher education setting. She is also interested in tailoring suicide prevention and intervention programs to marginalized populations, including students with disabilities and those identifying as LGBTQ. Dr. Chugani is also a licensed professional counselor specializing in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for the treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder. She has worked as a clinician in both college counseling and private practice settings and also offers training and consultation to college counseling centers interested in starting DBT programs. She has published more than 40 articles, reviews, editorials, and chapters and has been recognized for her community-engaged scholarship and as a recipient of the University of Pittsburgh’s Senior Vice Chancellor of Engagement’s 2020 Partnerships of Distinction Award for research-community partnerships.

Strengthening the Player-Coach Relationship to Improve Mental Health

We are excited to join you in Boston for the 2023 NASPA Annual Conference! This year's program is full of insightful and inspiring sessions to both challenge and support student affairs professionals at every level. 

This year's program is full of insightful and inspiring sessions to both challenge and support student affairs professionals at every level.

Following the tragic event at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007, higher education institutions recognized the immediate need for campus-wide communication and care coordination. Since then, we’ve seen an eruption of crisis prevention strategies, including the emergence of formalized case management practices and crisis coordination. Whether you’ve implemented a behavioral intervention, students of concern, care, and/or threat assessment team, this webinar will address how crisis management has changed and what it looks like today in a hybrid world.

During this webinar, you’ll be invited to ask questions live or via chat. We’ll give you an in-depth look into Mantra Health’s services and more.

In this webinar discussion, you’ll learn:

How care management has evolved since 2007

What care team structures have proven effective

What challenges do institutions face when establishing crisis teams

The way hybrid care has changed the way we communicate and coordinate care

Learn about the evolution of care coordination and crisis teams, how to adapt your telehealth practices, and how to build a more effective, more seamless care team in a post-COVID world.

John Dunkle, PhD, Senior Clinical Director, Knowledge & Advising, The Jed Foundation

Dr. John Dunkle joined JED in June 2020 after a 25-year career at the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at Northwestern University (NU), 15 years as the Executive Director. For 3 years, he also supervised the NU Center for Awareness, Response, and Education (CARE), which provides confidential advocacy and support services for students affected by sexual violence, relationship violence, and/or stalking. John holds degrees from Corning Community College (AS), SUNY Cortland (BA, MA), and the University at Albany (PhD). He is a licensed psychologist in Illinois and New York and is credentialed by the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology. He is a member of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, the American College Health Association, and an emeritus member of the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors.

Sharrika D. Adams, PhD, Assistant Professor of Practice, Virginia Tech

Dr. Sharrika D. Adams has over 15 years of progressive administrative experience in higher education and student affairs. Dr. Adans previously served as a Title IX Investigator in Virginia Tech’s Office of Equity and Accessibility. Prior to this role, she served for nine years in the Dean of Students Office at Virginia Tech, ultimately serving as the Senior Associate Dean of Students. Dr. Adams's research interests center on case management and crisis management in higher education. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice and the NASPA Journal About Women in Higher Education. She holds memberships in ACPA, NASPA and HECMA (Higher Education Case Managers Association). Dr. Adams earned her PhD from Virginia Tech in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (Higher Education program) with a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies. She earned both her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Liberal Studies degrees from Wake Forest University (North Carolina). 

Dwight Burke, Director of Support & Safety Assessment, Colorado State University

Dwight has served at Colorado State University for over 37 years including  13 years in his current role. As Director, Dwight oversees threat assessment and management, early intervention strategies, and Title IX and/or related investigations. His previous roles include oversight of the Police and Crime lab's Investigations Division, as well as serving on Colorado State's Police Force. Dwight holds a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership from Chadron State College, as well as a Graduate Certificate in Mediation and a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources Management and Policy from Colorado State University.

Moderator: Nora Feldpausch, MD, Medical Director, Mantra Health

Dr. Nora Feldpausch began working as a psychiatrist in college mental health during residency and has continued to build on that passion for bringing innovation and excellent clinical care to university settings ever since. She has worked in a variety of college mental health settings, including helping to build a multidisciplinary team to address high-risk and post-hospitalization care for students at Colorado State University, and assisting with creating and staffing Michigan State University Counseling and Psychiatry Service’s first telehealth service. She joined Mantra's clinical advisory team in 2019, becoming Mantra's Medical Director in February 2021. Nora has helped scale Mantra’s clinical program, built protocols for addressing safety and EFFIcacy in hybrid care, and overseen the development of a provider group that's dedicated to ensuring the delivery of evidence-based, innovative approaches to college mental health care

What's changed, what needs to change, and what the future of hybrid care looks like

The Evolution of Crisis Teams in Higher Education

The Evolution of Crisis Teams in Higher Education

2023 NASPA Annual Conference

Upcoming Events

2023 NASPA Annual Conference

The Evolution of Crisis Teams in Higher Education

Past Events

Depression on College Campuses Conference

National Association of Independent Colleges and University Annual Meeting

2023 NASPA Strategies Conference