Seniors Cash, Lemcool Present at Mental Health-Higher Ed Conference

Dr. Kaethe Hoehling, director of counseling services, and University of the Ozarks students Seria Cash and Kara Lemcool recently presented at a professional conference in Illinois.

The U of O contingent presented earlier this month at the Dennis H. May Diversity Conference on Mental Health and Higher Education at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois. The topic of Hoehling's research presentation was, "Radically Welcoming: Co-Creating a Trauma-Informed Community Wellness Praxis."

Cash and Lemcool, senior psychology majors, co-presented with Hoehling. Cash's portion of the presentation focused on intersectionality and trauma experiences of domestic and international students. Lemcool discussed the complex needs of students and how faculty and staff can support them.

"I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to co-present with these two seniors who are emerging leaders," Hoehling said. "We hope that we can inspire our friends and colleagues at Ozarks to strengthen practices in mental health literacy and work daily to create a welcoming, trauma-informed, place of higher education."

The description of the presentation read: "Research examined ways to educate and support university students and higher ed communities during the COVID-19 pandemic and the surge in student demonstrations. Amidst an unprecedented global health scare, a tense socio-political climate, and devastating incidents of violence and racism, mental health and education professionals asked important questions and opened important conversations. Although the national and global struggles are not the same today as in 2020, those questions and conversations still beg for our attention. This presentation proposes that developing a culture and community of trauma-informed mental health literacy- and resiliency-strengthening practices on our college campuses is a critically important pathway towards wellness. Adversity and trauma are unfortunately part of the human experience, yet we can work to take a more "purposeful approach to our interactions with students and colleagues in and out of the classroom to foster an appreciation of the existence of invisible trauma and intersectionality that will build resilience and support student success" (Pina-Smith & Scannell, 2020, p.79). Students of diverse backgrounds and experiences are looking to us for leadership in co-constructing healthier, safer, and more respectful college communities. Considerations of domestic and international student trauma experiences as well as examples of strategies to strengthen our practices will be covered and discussed."

The keynote speaker of the conference was Dr. Wendi Williams, provost and senior vice president of Fielding Graduate University and also president-elect of the American Psychological Association.

Topics: Psychology