More than 60% of college students are suffering from anxiety, according to the American Psychological Association.

Dallas College Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at North Lake Campus offered various distinct sessions as an Anxiety Relief Zone during October, aimed at assisting students in managing anxiety and stress by providing useful tactics to live an engaged life.

The event featured Aubrey Webster, a licensed counselor, and art therapist, as the speaker. The ‘Anxiety Relief Zone’ was a series of five sessions. Students from campus could attend any or all.

Webster had two goals; one was to help students understand what anxiety is and the second goal was to give them tools to manage anxiety on their own before it gets out of hand.

Although each session provided different kinds of information, the general objectives were to help students become more aware of anxiety and depression along with its symptoms and remedies.

Webster debunked misinformation related to managing stress during the sessions. Several students who participated in those workshops noted that they got the most evidence-based practices such as guided meditation, repeating affirmations, and so on.

An unforeseen challenge CAPS and Webster encountered was a lack of student attendance at the lectures. The fourth. session for the month was empty.

“Anxiety workshops are harder typically with anxiety,” Webster said. “People avoid going to things with others and if we’re doing something where we’re talking about the stress, it can make it harder to attend.” “Also, the location was not in a great spot, and it was kind of hidden far away. When you have anxiety, trying to find a place and be on time can be difficult.”

CAPS is preparing for another mental health workshop at NLC in the spring semester of 2024.

The workshop is scheduled for a Tuesday in February and will last for an hour and a half, starting at 1 p.m.

“Even if students cannot come for the whole time, they can just come at the beginning or the end. They can still get a lot of information,” Webster said.

For more information, students can send an email to [email protected] or [email protected].