As the ongoing pandemic has led to more mental health-related issues caused by uncertainty, grief and loss, officials at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) want to ensure students have proper access to the services needed to cope with the challenging issues they face. NSU reports an increase in counseling services among students but has faced challenges with scheduling availability to meet the growing demand.
To address the growing demand, NSU is partnering with TAO Connect, a digital platform designed to make behavioral health therapy more accessible and effective. The partnership will provide students with 24/7 access to TAO Connect’s personalized self-guided mental health platform via a Web browser or mobile app through the NSU Center for Student Counseling and Wellbeing by Henderson Behavioral Health.
“Access to mental health services is an obstacle that many college students face, especially as pandemic-related closures, isolations and general uncertainty prevail for yet another semester,” says Sherry Benton, Ph.D., ABPP, chief science officer and founder of TAO Connect. “TAO Connect’s mission from day one has been to increase accessibility to mental health care to those that need it most, and we are thrilled to partner with Nova Southeastern University to care for their students.”
TAO Connect’s V3 platform contains more than 150 interactive sessions on anxiety, depression, sleep, sexual violence, substance abuse and more. The partnership also enables students to access the platform’s various mental health exercises, such as a library of mindfulness meditations, exercises and journal prompts. Users can also access TAO Connect’s AI chatbot, TAO Assistant, which guides them through the platform to find a plan specific to the individual’s mental health needs.
“NSU’S Center for Student Counseling and Wellbeing is proud to integrate TAO Connect and its evidence-based digital programming to the university’s comprehensive mental health and wellness offering to our staff and student population,” says Suzelle Guinart, Director, Henderson Student Counseling Services at Nova Southeastern University. “The value of our students and faculty having 24/7 access to an online library of mental health resources that can be accessed in the palm of their hands, whenever they need and wherever they are is a priceless component of any full-service mental health and wellness support plan. TAO Connect compliments this strategy perfectly.”
TAO’s Learner Dashboard is customized to offer specific titles by category, special interest, or by learning what the user has previously selected, giving users a more familiar and highly personalized experience. Some of TAO’s more popular titles are topics like Understanding Depression, Sources of Wellbeing and Getting Stuck in Our Thoughts.
NSU students can register for TAO online at https://us.taoconnect.org/register
