MARIA KAIKOVA & PHI NGUYEN
<Contributors>
The Osgoode Mental Health Association (MHLS) and the Osgoode OUTlaws (Osgoode’s LGBTQA student organization) successfully launched the Osgoode Peer Support Centre (OPSC) on January 28th, 2013. This initiative grew out of a joint mission to create a safe, comfortable, accessible and welcoming space for students to combat feelings of isolation, stress, and lack of support. It was the appropriate next step after Osgoode’s appointment of a Student Success & Wellness Counsellor, Melanie Banka Goela.
Melanie has been a great resource and supporter of the OPSC. While her professional counselling services have greatly contributed to the betterment of the student body, she sees value in creating a positive space wherein students can relate their experiences and provide each other with support. She views this service as a much-needed addition to the successful Mentor Program, which is primarily focused on academic and career advice. The OPSC fills an unspoken void, provides a platform for support based on shared experiences, and facilitates a strong sense of collegiality among Osgoode students. It is premised on a “care ethic” and the belief that a community reaches its full potential when its members uplift and support one another. The centre also serves as a hub of resources relating to mental health issues and it seeks to remove the stigma associated with mental health concerns.
The OPSC has received a surprising amount of support from student volunteers who dedicate an hour of their time each week to staff the centre and respond to anonymous phone calls and emails. The OPSC volunteers have undergone anti-oppression training that aims to foster a sense of self-awareness of the various prejudices that they may hold, and provides volunteers with the tools to combat those prejudices. The OPSC volunteers have also undergone OPSC-specific training with Melanie Banka Goela to help them develop active listening skills and a deeper understanding of expressing empathy for fellow students. While each volunteer is well equipped to provide peer support, they are also available to just hang out and talk with students who have spare time between classes.
The OPSC’s office space is comfortable and inviting. It is a place where students can come to unwind and relax. We hope to provide coffee, tea and snacks for students to enjoy while they hang out on the couch and chat with our volunteers. A phone line will be installed soon, so that students can call in and express any psychological or emotional stresses that they are experiencing. This hotline, along with the peer support forum on the OPSC’s website at www.opsc.webs.com, allows students to receive peer support anonymously.
The OPSC’s goal is to promote a meaningful sense of community, to help reform the competitive, individualistic, and isolating culture of law school, and to combat the barriers and stigma associated with seeking support, be it through a friend, a peer, a counselor, or a doctor.
The OPSC hopes to serve as an indication to the legal community that Osgoode is committed to producing compassionate, caring, open-minded, healthy, and happy lawyers who feel a sense of responsibility to others. The hope is that other law schools will follow suit and help transform the legal profession as a whole.