**This post is in collaboration with Durham Tech Counseling Services.**

July is Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, and while the month is almost over, many of these resources are available all year round both through Durham Tech and through outside agencies. 

Are you a Durham Tech student looking for a safe space to discuss anxiety and other issues due to Covid-19? Have your heard about Let’s Cope?

The Let’s Cope group, hosted by LaKe’a Teel and Letoria Brown, is a support group for Durham Tech students that meets virtually over Microsoft Teams twice a week. They discuss specific topics, coping strategies, and share their experiences. This year has been tough (an understatement), and it looks like things will stay tough into the fall semester.

If you’re a student, please consider joining the group if and when you need to. If you are faculty or staff, direct students to the group whenever possible. We all need a support system to deal with things both big and small, from a global pandemic to help concentrating on schoolwork.

Information on previously covered topics can be found on the Counseling Services page, and many more topics are scheduled for the upcoming semester. 

It’s been an unconventional [see: literary term–understatement] few months. May is always Mental Health Month, but due to the stresses and uncertainties a lot of us are facing, it seems particularly important this year. 

There are lots of ways to attend to your own mental health needs and for many, meditation and yoga or other mindfulness practices may be beneficial. 

Check out some of the free (or temporarily free) apps that you can use to practice these skills.