Participating in an on-site or off-site stress management, meditation, or other relaxation program (multi-week program, attending at least 85% of sessions over a minimum of 8 weeks) is necessary to be eligible for this incentive. You must complete an attestation form in HCM by Nov. 30 to earn the incentive.
Why is this important?
Stress is experienced by many people on a daily basis. The American Psychological Association and the National Institute of Mental Health describe numerous effects of stress on health, including physical health issues such as cardiovascular disease. While all stress is not bad, chronic stress may affect overall health negatively. Learning how to manage the stressors that one experiences is important for good health.
Mental Health Matters
Mental Health Matters is an 8-session series focusing on various topics surrounding mental health, from managing personal challenges to helping your team thrive. This series is being presented to foster mental well-being in spite of the challenges we all face on a daily basis.
April 15 - The Amazing Benefits of Gratitude Journaling with Judith Eugene
April 22 - Mindful Leadership: Destressing Ourselves and Our Workplace with Andrea Peck, MA
April 29 - Stress Management for Turbulent Times with Susan Fee, MEd, LPCC (V)
May 6 - Gambling Disorder: Just Scratching the Surface with Stephanie Geer, MS Ed, LPCC-S, ICGC-II, BACC
May 13 - Under Pressure: Understanding Anxiety and Depression in Everyday Life with Natasha Cramer, LPCC-S, LICDC, SAP, CEAP
May 20 - Adverse Childhood Experience Study with Julia Ellifritt, LISW-S
May 27 - Emotional Roots of Clutter with Susan Fee, MEd, LPCC (V)
June 3 - Substance Abuse & Recovery with Ty Morgan, LISW-S
Wednesdays from 12-1 pm via Zoom
Register for Mental Health Matters
Undercover Mindfulness: Strengthening Attentional Fitness
Undercover Mindfulness is an 8-week interactive series designed by Mindfulness Coach Daron Larson for Case Western Reserve University faculty and staff that reframes mindfulness as a practical, evidence informed set of attention skills for navigating modern professional and personal demands.
Rather than presenting mindfulness as a passive or spiritual practice, this program uses a “secret agent” metaphor to emphasize real world application: participants learn to develop focus, emotional composure, perceptual clarity, and empathy while remaining fully engaged in daily life.
Each session combines brief experiential exercises, peer discussion, and practical “field assignments” that help participants integrate the skills directly into their work routines, relationships, and self-care habits. The series is structured as a developmental progression—from foundational awareness to advanced application—supporting stress resilience, improved communication, and greater presence under pressure.
The program is intentionally secular, accessible, and customizable, meeting participants where they are while offering concrete tools for sustainable behavior change. The ultimate outcome is not simply reduced stress, but increased capacity to respond thoughtfully to challenges, savor positive experiences, and remain grounded amid uncertainty.
• Week 1 Recruitment: Orientation to undercover mindfulness for attentional fitness.
• Week 2 Surveillance Basics: Paying attention without drawing attention to strengthen focus.
• Week 3 Signal vs. Noise: Paying attention to distinctions to sharpen perceptual clarity
• Week 4 Eyes and Ears Open: Paying attention to sights and sounds for situational awareness.
• Week 5 Recovery Protocols: Paying attention to restful sensations in any circumstance.
• Week 6 Emotional Intel: Paying attention to emotional feelings in the body.
• Week 7 Self-Regulation: Applying focus, clarity, and composure to personal habits.
• Week 8 Social Integration: Applying focus, clarity, and composure to live consistently with your values in a distracted and polarized world.
Thursdays from 12-1 pm via Zoom
April 2, 16, 23, 30, May 7, 14, 28, June 4 (no class on April 9 or May 21)
Register for Undercover Mindfulness
Building Inner Resilience: Navigating Modern-Day Stress
Worldwide, the experts agree: today’s stress is a growing "public health crisis" (WHO, CDC, NIH). Stressed-out – tired but wired – is our rampant norm, and it is wreaking havoc on all aspects of our well-being. No one is immune. That said, it needn't be this way; there is a better way! Come and find out about how to feel better and be better.
Join Heidi Weiker for an engaging, fun, and impactful 8-week series that is not just another canned ‘stress-management’ class telling you what you already know – this is real-world, hands-on, and real-time. It’s jam-packed with relevant science, contemporary theory, and quick, yet powerful and proven practices. Together, we’ll dialogue, share, practice, and enjoy moving out of unrelenting distress; breathing into relaxed, calm, peaceful, and focused energy; building greater positivity; and attuning to and affirming our inner strengths.
Tuesdays, March 17 - May 5, from 12-1 pm via Zoom
Building Connection and Communication
Wouldn't it be great to be able to better manage stress in your relationships at work and at home? Learn new and transformative ways to improve response versus reaction, diplomacy and respect, verbal and non-verbal communication, and more. Join Heidi Weiker for 8 weeks to learn to use these tools for better success in your relationships.
Thursdays, January 15 - March 12 (no session Feb. 26), from 12-1 pm via Zoom
Self-Care for the Season: Honoring What Matters Most
Holiday seasons often sweep us into a hustle and bustle of intensified pressure and expectations, and endless to-do lists – leaving little time to just be. This program is an invitation to step out of this flurry and into what truly matters the most. Through gentle and meaningful practices, we’ll greet the season with calm and comfort, appreciation and thanks, and wonder and joy. Woven into our four weeks together, we’ll discover compassionate self-dialogue, uncover gifts in all things, spot joy and sparkle, and maybe even playfully scavenge for gratefulness. Our practices will be refreshed and reimagined, each a heartfelt invitation into a sanctuary of self-care for the season.
Join Heidi Weiker for this 4-session mini-series: Thursdays, Nov. 20, Dec. 4, Dec. 11, and Dec. 18, 2025, from 12:30-1:30 pm via Zoom
Release, Relax, and Reach
Join Heidi Weiker for Release, Relax and ReachTM, an engaging, impacting, and interactive 8-week series. Not just another canned stress-management program repeating what you know – it’s insightful and readily applicable in your real-world.
Each week we’ll explore fun and quick, yet powerful and proven methods that you can use right in the moment. We'll discover a release out of unrelenting stress and strain. We'll relax into a deeper balance of energy and calm. And then, we'll reach into inner peace and joy, to reach up and out into the world. Join us to learn relevant science and contemporary theory, to engage and enjoy in these practices in real-time, and to reinvigorate your well-being.
Future plans TBD
Breath as a Flowing River
Breath practice is a powerful centering and grounding method that facilitates relaxation. This experiential, practice-oriented program, presented by Heidi Weiker, MSSA, follows this flow: from river to ocean. A poignant metaphor for breath, the river is a force of nature that nourishes and sustains, and keeps moving forward. Founded on relevant science and contemporary methods and practices – this program explores our understanding and utilization of the unyielding power of breath. The six sessions explore breath as each section of a flowing river: 1) source (awakening); 2) current (flow); 3) rapids (resilience); 4) still pools (presence); 5) delta (expansion); and, 6) ocean (connection). [Since this series is only six weeks in length, participation does not lead to eligibility for a Wellness Program Incentive.]
Future plans TBD
HealthyLife® Thrive
The American Institute for Preventive Medicine's HealthyLife® Thrive program is a journey of self-discovery. Thrive guides participants to learn more about themselves and what well-being means for them, as well as how to make small, powerful shifts in ways of thinking and doing. Designed to empower participants with the necessary tools and skills to enhance their emotional well-being and navigate life’s challenges, Thrive will help you discover your strengths, give yourself a moment to really reflect, and take actions that support your mental and emotional health. You will come away feeling more connected to your inner voice and in control of how you respond to life’s stressors.
Topics covered during this 8-week series will include:
- Developing a growth mindset
- Noticing and changing unhelpful thought patterns
- Adapting to change
- Building confidence and self-esteem
- Connecting to purpose and values
- Managing energy and attention
- Strengthening a sense of community and connection
- Balancing different roles, work-life integration
- Moving more to support mental health
- Fueling the body to support brain health
This series may return in 2026.
Avidon Health's Stress and Resiliency Training
Online Stress Management
Avidon Health's LivingEasy program is a multi-session class which will change the way you think, feel and react to stressful situations.
To register, follow the prompts on the Avidon Health page of this website.
Mental Health First Aid
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)—an evidence-based training program—is offered through University Health and Counseling Services and led by certified CWRU faculty and staff trainers (including the Wellness Program team!).
Mental Health First Aid prepares participants to recognize warning signs of mental health challenges, offer compassionate initial support, and guide individuals toward appropriate campus or community resources. The curriculum covers common conditions such as depression, anxiety, trauma, psychosis, and substance use, and emphasizes non‑judgmental listening, risk awareness, and referral steps. MHFA training is an empowering opportunity for faculty, staff, and students to actively contribute to a caring, resilient campus environment.
MHFA training must be completed in full and certificate of completion received in order to attest for a Stress Management Wellness Program Incentive. You can view available dates and schedule MHFA training here.
Individual Counseling through AllOne Health
All benefits eligible faculty and staff and their families can receive up to five free counseling sessions per occurrence for a variety of issues including:
- Anxiety
- Work/life balance
- Marital stress
- Depression
- Substance abuse
- and more
Contact AllOne Health (formerly Impact Solutions) at 1-800-227-6007 to request your first session.
Please note that this service covers benefits eligible CWRU faculty and staff, spouses/partners, household members, dependents living in and away from home, even parents and parents-in-law.