In addition to facilitating the Crowley Family MindSpa and Pet Therapy, the Barnes Center at The Arch’s Health Promotion team offers a series of workshops through its Wellness Leadership Institute (WLI). Ranging from Narcan training to sex-positivity workshops, WLI has a handful of workshops available. Whether you are a part of a fraternity/sorority or another student organization, a WLI workshop would be a great addition to your event schedule for ongoing learning and development.
The workshops are designed to be both interactive and informative, and they are led by Barnes Center peer educators who are undergraduate students here at Syracuse University. The goal of peer education is to offer students a more comfortable and accessible place to learn. Peer educators act as a bridge between on-campus resources and the student population, extending information about health and well-being. Research has proven the success of peer education, stating that students are most likely to open up and/or reach out to their peers.
WLI has five different workshops available for request this semester. Read on to learn more about them!
Sip Safer (Alcohol Safety)
This workshop discusses the risks associated with drinking alcohol, reviews a variety of strategies for safer drinking and teaches students how to be a prosocial bystander when someone is experiencing alcohol poisoning.
Mindful Living for Emotional Well-Being (Mental Health)
This workshop reviews the key aspects of improving the mind-body connection. This includes mindfulness, discussing emotional awareness strategies, identifying activities to reduce stress and fostering self-compassion.
Healthy Relationships and Boundaries
This workshop discusses cultural influences on our perceptions surrounding relationships. This session will include exploring qualities of healthy versus unhealthy relationships, learning strategies for establishing healthy boundaries and how to be a prosocial bystander when witnessing unhealthy behaviors.
Empowering Sexual Health: A Sex-Positive Workshop
This workshop discusses what it means to have a sex-positive mindset, debunks common myths surrounding safer sex practices and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), discusses the connection between pleasure and our health, and identifies strategies for enhancing pleasure while practicing safer sex.
Narcan Training
Participants will engage with the Barnes Center at The Arch New York State Opioid Overdose Prevention Program to discuss opioid drugs, including fentanyl, and explore strategies for safer opioid consumption. Participants will be trained to recognize the warning signs of opioid overdose and respond with Narcan, a lifesaving medication. Participants will leave this workshop as trained Opioid Overdose Responders and will be equipped with a free Narcan kit.
Starting this semester, WLI workshops will be offered by request only. To sign your organization up for a WLI workshop, submit the Barnes Center’s Outreach Request Form. We hope that you will benefit from the workshops as much as we do!
Written By Olivia Fried ’26, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications