UMass Amherst offering Election Week ‘therapy dogs,’ ‘Movie for Queer Joy,’ ‘painting rocks,’ and more
‘If the upcoming election, the associated news and social media posts are leaving you confused, scared, angry, hopeless, stressed . . . you are not alone,’ one event description read.
Events included ‘pet therapy,’ ‘painting rocks,’ and ‘creating a gratitude tree.’
The University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst is offering students different activities throughout Election Week to cope with stress related to the 2024 presidential election.
The programming, which is offered by UMass Amherst’s Center for Counseling and Psychological Health, was originally published on Oct. 17.
Monday and Wednesday, the days before and after Election Day, respectively, featured a “Managing Election Stress Drop-In Group.”
“If the upcoming election, the associated news and social media posts are leaving you confused, scared, angry, hopeless, stressed . . . you are not alone,” the event description reads. “And election week in particular might be a time when all these emotions come together. If you’d like a space to come in and talk about these emotions with others, please join our election stress drop-in groups. All emotions welcome!”
The week also featured several sessions of “Pet Therapy” with the Center’s “therapy dogs,” Rosie, Doolin, and George.
On Monday evening, students had the option of watching a “Movie for Queer Joy” titled “But I’m a Cheerleader,” which centers on a “high school cheerleader whose parents send her to a residential in-patient conversion therapy camp to ‘cure’ her lesbianism” but who “realizes that she is indeed a lesbian and, despite the ‘therapy,’ comes to embrace her sexuality.”
On Election Day itself, students went to “Island Vibes Yoga,” an “Art Therapy Activity,” and more “Pet Therapy.”
Other activities included “Painting Rocks,” a “Forest Walk and Guided Meditation,” and “creating a gratitude tree.”
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Many other colleges and universities have been offering students activities to deal with stress before, during, and after the election. For example, Virginia Tech organized de-stressing programs on Election Day, including therapy dogs and yoga.
The University of Oregon did something similar, letting students see therapy dogs as well as “Quacktavious the Therapy Duck.” Georgetown University provided students with milk and cookies, and the University of Michigan offered students art therapy to help them “explore and process the emotions stirred up by the election season.”
Campus Reform contacted the University of Massachusetts Amherst for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.
