Well-Being at Stanford

wellness

Cultivating well-being is a lifelong process of making choices that lead toward a healthy, fulfilling and meaningful life. Well-being is about flourishing in multiple domains, including psychological, social, emotional, contemplative, and physical.

Well-Being at Stanford helps students develop knowledge and life skills to live a healthy, vibrant lifestyle, manage stress, build resilience, and ensure positive interactions. Its mission is to empower individuals and communities to flourish through education, connection, and positive culture change. Well-Being at Stanford offers individual coaching; academic courses; consultations, trainings and workshops; as well as volunteer, internship and funding opportunities.

  • General Health and Wellness:

    A foundational pillar of well-being is physical self and health. Without physical health, it is difficult to tend to other parts of your well-being. Tending to your physical self is more than going to the doctor when you feel sick. Being proactive and holistic in your physical health is one of the best ways to prevent sickness, burnout, stress, and other health issues. The resources listed here provide avenues to do just that, from general health check-ins and screenings to ways to be active for all bodies and interests.

  • Coaching, Counseling & Emotional Support:

    An essential part of your time at Stanford is figuring out who you are, what’s important to you, and how you want to live your life. These are big questions with complex and difficult answers. This presents our community with many challenges, so we have services dedicated to supporting you, wherever you are in your journey. Many students try counseling, coaching, and other forms of support during their time at Stanford. Check out the resources below to get an idea of how we can help you flourish.

    • Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS): offers individual consults, skills workshops, process groups, seminars, psychiatry services, community referral resources, and crisis intervention.
    • Well-Being Coaching: Well-Being at Stanford coaches are experts in the change process and serve as skilled partners to help you make shifts in beliefs and behaviors to improve your overall well-being, or simply offer support when you’re struggling. With them, you can clarify values, set goals and priorities, talk through challenges, and create your own vision for well-being.
    • The Bridge Peer Counseling Center: offers anonymous peer counseling by trained students
    • Confidential Support Team (CST): offers support to Stanford students impacted by sexual assault and relationship violence.
    • Nutrition appointments: offers individual nutrition counseling appointments.

  • Community, Engagement, Belonging:

    An integral part of well-being is feeling like we belong…That we are connected to a community that supports our best and truest selves boosts all dimensions of our health. Cultivating a network of people and spaces is an ongoing process. Community centers are a big part of life on campus, providing opportunities to connect to others, learn more about yourself, and navigate what feels like a community. Check out the diverse communities below and begin to explore your own definition of belonging.

    • Asian American Activities Center {A3C) builds a community of Asian and Asian American students, faculty, staff and alumni that fosters greater understanding and awareness of the Asian experience in America.
    • Bechtel International Center contributes to international activities at Stanford by helping to create a welcoming and supportive environment that is responsive to the needs of the international community.
    • Black Community Services Center {BCSC) focuses on supporting the total advancement and excellence of Black students and Black student groups within the Stanford community.
    • El Centro Chicano y Latino {El Centro) works to support Chicano and Latino students academically, personally, socially and culturally.
    • Stanford FLI Office connects first-generation and/or low-income (FLI) students to resources, builds community and fosters a sense of belonging through mentorship and advocacy.
    • Graduate Life Office (GLO) is a source of comprehensive, impartial guidance and information related to all aspects of your life as a graduate student.
    • Hillel at Stanford (Hillel) empowers Jewish students at Stanford to explore and deepen their Jewish identities, and to envision their futures with choices inspired by Jewish values and commitments.
    • Markaz Resource Center (The Markaz) supports a vibrant community of students who identify with or are interested in Muslim experiences both here and around the world.
    • Native American Cultural Center (NACC) works to improve the quality of life for American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and Indigenous Pacific Islanders. Our community reaches out to new students and their families to help them adjust to life at Stanford, and to help them realize goals and prepare for the future.
    • Office for Military-Affiliated Communities (OMAC) focuses on the administration and management of VA financial benefits, coordinates and supports educational opportunities for military-affiliated communities, and conducts outreach to faculty regarding engagement and support for faculty grants or other funding specifically identified for military and veteran communities.
    • Office of Student Engagement (OSE) is dedicated to helping students find community and foster passions while developing leadership and life skills. OSE supports all recognized student organizations including greek affiliated communities, advises ASSU and the sophomore and junior class council, and offer leadership development and training.
    • Queer Student Resources (QSR) is a community of students, university staff, and faculty working to make Stanford a place where people of all genders and sexualities can flourish.
    • Women’s Community Center (WCC) exists to facilitate growth and engagement for Stanford students around issues of gender, equity, identity, and justice.
    • Cardinal Nights seeks to challenge the faulty normative belief that alcohol is needed in order to have fun on a college campus. We are dedicated to de-emphasizing alcohol and reducing high-risk drinking on campus by providing premium, equally attractive, non-alcoholic social programming.

  • Financial Well-Being:

    Whether you have been managing your finances for a long time or this is the first time you’ve had a budget, feeling confident in navigating financial systems and resources is important for well-being. Since financial stability can impact overall well-being, it’s critical to begin attending to your financial health. Stanford students come from all types of financial backgrounds, and so there is a wide range of services to equip students with knowledge on how to access resources, set themselves up for financial success, and prepare for financial life post-college. Check out the options below.

    • Financial Aid Office (FAO) offers guidance and resources to navigate costs of tuition and other fees.
    • Mind Over Money aims to serve as a campus-wide resource to equip students with a foundation to make informed financial decisions during their time at Stanford and in their careers and lives after the Farm.

  • Spiritual Well-Being:

    Connection to something bigger than oneself is a part of the many dimensions of well-being. From giving to others, to finding purpose, to mindfully engaging in reflection, spirituality and religion can act as a cornerstone to connecting to yourself, others, and something bigger. Explore these resources to continue, or begin, your spiritual journey:

    • Office for Religious Life (ORL) is committed and devoted to ensuring lively, thoughtful and supportive contexts for Stanford students, faculty and staff who wish to pursue spiritual interests. We recognize that a spiritual/religious journey can be an important, balancing complement to the numerous challenges one faces in the pursuit of academic and career goals.
    • Stanford Associated Religions (SAR) is a collection of 30 religious organizations invited by ORL to offer their spiritual services to the Stanford community.

  • Healthy Relationships and Sexual Violence Resources:

    We know that connection to others is imperative to our flourishing. Knowing what is healthy for us, engaging in a culture of consent, taking care of our wounds, and engaging in justice can also be a part of our journey towards well-being. The resources below will aid you in these various elements.

    • Confidential Support Team (CST) supports connection, healing, and thriving among Stanford community members impacted by sexual, relationship, and gender-based violence through confidential, trauma-informed consultation, counseling, and outreach.
    • SHARE Title IX and Title VI Office is the University’s central resource for redressing and preventing sexual harassment, violence, and harassment/discrimination issues experienced by all Stanford community members through education, culture change, accountability, and empowerment.

  • Substance Use Education and Recovery Resources:

    College is a time when some students interact with alcohol and drugs. Some may arrive at college having had experiences in the past that have led them to recovery or choices to abstain. Others may have little experience with substance use and may try to use substances for the first time. Regardless of your experiences, Stanford aims to:

    • Reduce the misuse and abuse of illicit and legal substances
    • Support students in recovery choosing to abstain from substances
    • Promote safe and responsible use — for those who choose to use legal substances.
    • Office of Alcohol Policy and Education (OAPE) aims to reduce high-risk alcohol and other drug use and related harms by enriching social experiences and providing collaborative, educational programs and strategies.
    • Stanford’s Recovery Community offers support for those in recovery and those thinking about recovery options for a variety of addictive behaviors
    • Addiction Medicine and Dual Diagnosis Clinic provides care and treatment for people with addictions

  • Learning and Career Resources:

    It may come as no surprise that academic and professional issues are a big part of your college experience. Navigating university education and preparing for a career can be stimulating, exhilarating, and daunting. The resources below can help you identify your strengths and growth edges, adapt to university academics, and connect you to professional opportunities well suited to your goals in and out of Stanford.

    • Schwab Learning Center (SLC) helps students with learner variability understand how they learn and how to leverage their strengths.
    • BEAM Career Education engages students to help them design their career pathways, venture into new opportunities, and pursue their job search.
    • Office of Accessible Education (OAE) provides a wide array of support services, accommodations, and programs to remove barriers to full participation in the life of the university.

  • Public Safety at Stanford:

    The Stanford University Department of Public Safety exists to provide a safe, secure atmosphere which is conducive to freedom of expression and movement, for people and their property at Stanford University, within the constraints of the Federal, State, and Local laws and ordinance.

    Visit the Stanford DPS website to learn more about the services they provide.

    Stanford DPS publishes a Safety, Security and Fire Report annually in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act. You can read the 2019 Safety, Security, and Fire Report here.