Managing Stress and Uncertainty

Explore resources to support your mental and emotional wellbeing during times of stress, anxiety and uncertainty.

The UC San Diego Faculty and Staff Assistance Program (FSAP) team recognizes that we’ve seen some unprecedented challenges, and also a few unprecedented victories, over the past few years.

We stand now on the horizon of another new year and again will work together as a campus community to make wonderful things happen. The vaccine continues to safeguard millions of people around the world; and we are witnessing medical history, social movements towards justice and learning more about our family members than we ever dreamed we would.

However, there are also many frightening events taking place in our nation that have sent many of us into a state of shock, feeling as traumatized and uncertain as we did at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. Layers and layers of fear, doubt, and continued isolation feel particularly heavy as we once again face familiar social justice challenges, new viral variants and the constant challenge of re-inventing the workplace, the school room, and more. We need every UC San Diego stakeholder well and clear-headed, connected and energized.

This page offers some ideas to head us all in a healthy direction.

Resources

• 10 Good Things to do for a Healthy Life (PDF), a daily checklist
  
• 54 Proven Stress Reducers (PDF)
• Meditation and Mindfulness Apps
  • Insight Timer
  • Headspace
  • Calm
  • Mindshift, interactive cognitive-based tools to relieve anxiety
  • Liberate, meditations and talks designed for the Black experience
• MyStrength, mental health app supported by UC San Diego's medical insurance programs
• UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness 
• Mindfulness Daily at Work: Free 40-Day Course
• Progressive Muscle Relaxation
• The Greater Good Podcast, from Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center
• Free Expression at UC San Diego
  • Tips for Tough Conversations

Counseling and Campus Support Groups 

• Individual counseling appointments are available to UC San Diego campus employees at no cost through FSAP. Schedule an appointment with an FSAP counselor »
  • FSAP counselors can also help with referrals to external behavioral health providers through University-provided health programs (Optum, Anthem, MHN) and other service options in the community.
    
    
• Tritons Flourish, facilitated by William Youngblood, LMFT
  
  • Third Thursday of the month at 12 p.m.
  • This monthly program is open to any UC San Diego campus employee interested in connecting with others who are committed to flourishing in their personal and professional lives. Learn more »
    
    
• Mindful Pause (Mindfulness Meditation Group), facilitated by Dr. Bryan McNutt, PhD, LMFT, CEAP
  • Third Wednesday of the month from 11:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
    • Register for Mindful Pause »
    • Next session: Wednesday, February 16 from 11:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
  • This monthly group meeting focuses on using practical approaches for applying mindfulness-based skills in our daily lives, including our working life. As an experiential group, sessions will include basic guided meditation exercises that can be utilized to help nurture more emotional calm, focus, and presence in your daily life.
    
    

Parent and Caregiver Support Groups and Events

• Remote Working Moms Support Group, facilitated by Izabel Caetano Francy, LCSW, PMH-C  
  • Fourth Wednesday of the month from 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. 
    
  • Join the UC San Diego Moms listserv to receive meeting details each month »

• Remote Working Parents Support Group, facilitated by Izabel Caetano Francy, LCSW, PMH-C
  • First Wednesday of the month at 12 p.m.
  • All parents are invited to join the UC San Diego Moms listserv to receive meeting details each month »

• Caregivers and Eldercare Support Group 
  • First Tuesday of the month from 12 - 1 p.m.
  • To receive the Zoom meeting invitation, contact Crystal Green at cegreen@ucsd.edu. 
  • Explore our Caregiver and Eldercare Resources