Boston University

10/16/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 10/17/2024 07:32

Student Health Services Launches Togetherall, a New Online Peer Support Platform for Students

Student Health Services Launches Togetherall, a New Online Peer Support Platform for Students

The free, clinically moderated mental health service is available 24/7

With all of its deadlines and pressures, college can sometimes feel overwhelming. That's why Student Health Services now offers access to Togetherall, a free online peer-support service that functions like a mental-health social media platform. Photo via iStock/Alisa Zahoruiko

Mental Health

Student Health Services Launches Togetherall, a New Online Peer Support Platform for Students

The free, clinically moderated mental health service is available 24/7

October 16, 2024
0
TwitterFacebook

For students, college can often resemble a balancing act of stresses and pressures-academic, career, social, financial-all while figuring out how to be a young adult in an increasingly chaotic world. And at a competitive school like Boston University, this can sometimes pose challenges to students' mental health.

That's why Student Health Services (SHS) is now offering students an additional mental health resource: Togetherall.

A free and anonymous online peer support platform, Togetherall is available 24/7 and functions similarly to social media, with users able to post about what they're dealing with, respond to posts from others, and start group chats, among other features. Plus: users can connect with mental health professionals, called "wall guides," who constantly monitor the platform and are always available to chat or answer questions.

"Togetherall is a very rich offering," says Kara Cattani, director of SHS Behavioral Medicine. "It has the best qualities of social media, where you can connect with someone and maybe share a struggle. But it's not just peer support-there are resources students can access, too."

Those resources include self-help articles, mental health assessments, well-being courses on topics like depression or sleep, and tools to set and track mental health goals. The wall guides can also connect users with specific BU resources, such as clinical care at Behavioral Medicine, an SHS support group, or crisis care. (Learn more about Togetherall here.)

Togetherall is the latest peer-support offering from Student Health Services. Learn more about how the platform works in the video above. Video courtesy of Togetherall

Togetherall is the latest peer-support offering from SHS after All Ears, a free mental health peer listening program. Both resources come as a result of requests from students and staff alike for more peer-to-peer options, says Melissa Paz, SHS Health Promotion & Prevention assistant director of mental health promotion.

"Part of what I think people were rightfully recognizing-and what we see in the research, too-is that students often go to a peer [when they're struggling] before they approach a mental health professional," Paz says. "While peer support isn't intended to replace clinical support, it is intended as an additional bridge for students to normalize conversations around mental health. And, it's a way to meet students at different points of their needs, such as those who might not need a high level of clinical care."

Togetherall is not just BU- or college-specific. Anyone 16 and up whose school, company, or other institution offers access to the platform can use it. Joining Togetherall marks a slightly "outside of the box" approach, Cattani says, that SHS has been taking to its expansion of mental health services in recent years.

"There's less stigma surrounding mental health care than there was a decade ago," she says. "Students come to college and have already been in therapy, or they're eager to try it, and they're not as afraid to acknowledge when they need help. That means we've had to start thinking creatively about what tools might best augment [traditional] clinical services, and peer-to-peer services have had a lot of support on campus."

At the end of the day, mental health support takes multiple forms and can look entirely different from person to person. SHS hopes that its range of offerings provides students with easy, judgment-free options that make sense for whatever someone might be dealing with.

"College is hard," Paz acknowledges. "There are so many stressors within the college experience, but there's also so much happening outside the institution in terms of what's happening in the world, as well as what students may be experiencing personally-and that's a lot to hold."

Recognizing when you might need a little help managing it all is vital, and "a sign of strength, not weakness," Paz says.

"We all experience ups and downs. To me, affirming your own experience and acknowledging when you're struggling is a really big sign of perseverance and resilience."

Learn more about all the mental health resources available through Student Health Services here.

Explore Related Topics:

  • Share this story
  • 0CommentsAdd

Share

Student Health Services Launches Togetherall, a New Online Peer Support Platform for Students

Copy URL:Copy

  • Alene Bouranova

    Writer/Editor Twitter Profile

    Alene Bouranova is a Pacific Northwest native and a BU alum (COM'16). After earning a BS in journalism, she spent four years at Boston magazine writing, copyediting, and managing production for all publications. These days, she covers campus happenings, current events, and more for BU Today. Fun fact: she's still using her Terrier card from 2013. When she's not writing about campus, she's trying to lose her Terrier card so BU will give her a new one. She lives in Cambridge with her plants. Profile

    Alene Bouranova can be reached at [email protected]

Comments & Discussion

Boston University moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (EST) and can only accept comments written in English. Statistics or facts must include a citation or a link to the citation.

Post a comment. Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.Required fields are marked *

Comment*view guidelines
Name *
Email *
Submit Comment

Latest from BU Today